Happiness comes with baggage
by Cynth19
Summary: Blaine is a musician who loves living during the night and barely works during the day. He has a string of one night stands and never commits to relationships. Kurt is the complete opposite; married once with two kids and a second lasting relationship from which he got a girl. The two meet one day when it's heavily raining and both of their days have been a series of disasters...
1. Prologue

This is a partial French Klaine AU. Why partial? Blaine is still from Westerville and he moved to France with his best friend Sebastian during his college years. Kurt is French, he grew up in Maux which is near Paris and then moved to the big city. The whole idea of the story is largely inspired from a French movie entitled "Un Bonheur n'arrive jamais seul" (which is the direct French translation of the title of the story.) I want to say a huge thank you to my wonderful Beta who not only helped me with typos, grammar and vocabulary but she also points out the continuity/consistency errors.

There will be some passage in French. I'll translate them at the end of each chapter when they're not already explained directly. If ever you still have a problem understanding something, don't hesitate. I hope to updtade once every other week. If ever there'll be a problem for an updtate, I'll post about it on my tumblr : embrace-is-love.

I really hope that you will enjoy this journey :)

* * *

Prologue:

The place was crowded tonight. People were dancing; some to a specific rhythm and others just swaying as they let alcohol take over their balance. There were shouts and cheering. It was not easy to determine if the patrons of the bar were celebrating or protesting.

A young man with dark brown curly hair was sweating as he played a lively tune on the piano. His fingers were engaged in a complicated routine over the ivory keys. The man seemed completely lost to the world. His eyes were closed with a small smile splayed on his lips. He was already drunk, of course. The owner of the _Jazz _had an arrangement with all kinds of musicians; if they played for his patrons, then he'd offer them as many drinks as they wanted. This way, he could guarantee that most of the talents from Montmartre would come and bring entertainment to what was once a very calm and depressing place.

"Come on, you won't regret it Mr. Wethils!" another man yelled into his phone as he walked past the piano. "By the end of the month? Of course sir, we'll be ready. I can swear it to you!" He hung up and turned to watch the pianist. The other man felt the gaze of his friend on him and looked his way. He saw Sebastian give a thumbs up and grin wildly.

As if he were possessed, the young musician accelerated the rhythm of his piece and finished it with a loud crescendo.

"_Blaine! Une autre_!" some of the patrons yelled, asking for more from the man who had left the stool behind the piano and walked over to his friend for a bone-crushing hug.

"We're really doing it?" he asked, shouting over the loud noises of the crow around them.

"Yes, I got Mr. Wethils one the phone just now and he said that they are willing to watch us demonstrate the project for the show!" Sebastian was ecstatic. He had spent weeks trying to convince the man from the theatre company to allow them a moment of their precious time to show off what they had already done and how much better it could be if they were given the opportunity to perform.

"Blaine! Seb! Over here guys!" A blonde man ran towards them and hurled them into a booth near the piano.

"So, you are really doing it then?" a woman asked, disbelief clear in her tone. "It's not like last time, I hope," she added, earning her a glare from the rest of her friends.

"Darling, we're celebrating right now," the man next to her slurred, trying to sound chastising.

Blaine laughed. He looked at the others all around him; Tina and Mike were now cheering and speaking about some new kind of drinking game while Nick and Jeff were in the end of the booth heavily making out. Sebastian was nearby and not paying attention to any of them; he was too busy flirting with two men younger than him. They were French from what Blaine could hear over the loud chatter of the bar.

Suddenly, he felt a hand slowly but purposefully travelling up his thigh. He turned and recognized a boy who had been staring at him all night long while he played. His new fan must have been around 18, maybe 19. He was much younger than Blaine who had recently turned 26.

The boy kept up with his advances and leaned into Blaine's space whispering hotly in his left ear:

"How about you show me what other things you can do with your talented fingers?"

The proposition was a bit clumsy and Blaine could sense that the boy was still inexperienced. Usually, he would not pick up someone this young, but right now, he was feeling too horny to care. He stood up, nearly making the boy fall on his ass, and then took his hand. He said his goodbyes to his group of drunken friends and then left, his admirer following quickly behind him.

* * *

**Chapter End Notes:**

Translation:

"Blaine! Une autre!" : "Blaine, play another one!"


	2. Chapter One

**_A/N: Once again, I want to say a huge thank you to mu beta 'just-another-pipeddreamer' on tumblr for not only proof reading and checking that everyhitng that wrote makes sense, but also for being so enthusiastic about the story. She really cheers me on and I think that just knowing that she's excited to see how the story will turn out is really pushing me to keep writing :) _**

**_I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter ! (as usual, translation for the French bits are at the end ^^) _**

* * *

Chapter One

The sun was filtering through the blinds, its hot rays hitting Blaine's naked skin. He stirred in his sleep, feeling the weight of someone else in his bed. His head was pounding. The loud noises coming from downstairs were not helping his predicament. That was one of the downside of living in a loft: no walls to block out sounds.

"How you can live in such a messy place, sweetheart, is beyond my understanding," a gentle voice came from below his room. He sighed; his mother must be in his kitchen, cleaning up dishes.

Blaine started to get up, trying to remove the other boy from his side without waking him up. It was quite a usual occurrence for his mother to walk into his place while his conquest was still there. He still remembered how embarrassing it had been once when Charlotte had come in and Blaine and his partner for the night were still fucking against the wall near the front door. Of course, his mom had acted as if she had only seen them kissing, but the other man had pulled out of Blaine so fast they had both slipped on the floor, leaving them in a mess of naked limbs on the cold parquet. After that, his mother had helped them both back on their feet and insisted that they have tea together so she could properly meet the man she believed was her son's boyfriend. If the other man had not been freaked out before, he had then bolted out, stark naked, without a word. Charlotte had come next to Blaine and patted him on his shoulder saying that he could still introduce his lover some other time. Needless to say, she never got to have tea with that man.

"Blaine, don't tell me you're still in bed!" she started climbing up the stairs, "It's almost noon."

Her son ran out of bed and in his haste, his feet got tangled in the sheets and he fell face first on the floor. The loud bang woke up Alex. Blaine remembered learning the boy's name while he was thoroughly fucking him into oblivion a few hours before.

"_Il se passe quoi?_" Blaine heard the boy mutter, as he sat up in the bed and looked around him. Then he noticed the other man on the floor and his cheeks went red.

"Oh, I see that I'm disturbing you sweetheart," Charlotte had just entered the bedroom and looked a bit flushed herself. "What's your name young man?" she asked the still barely awake boy.

"Mum, not now," Blaine whined, "Can you go back downstairs, please?"

She ignored him and sat herself on the bed next to the naked boy. Well, she couldn't actually see he was naked since his lower half was still under the covers.

"You're French?" she asked him with a big smile on her face. To her, this situation was a usual occurrence.

"_Putain…_" the boy swore under his breath.

"Now, that is no way to address a lady," she chastised Alex, shaking her finger disapprovingly at the boy. "_Tes parents ne t'ont pas appris les bonnes manières_?"

Alex looked at her unsure what to say. He turned to Blaine who had disappeared through the bathroom door leaving him alone with this crazy woman. He was still naked for Christ sake!

"_Je me casse,_" Alex said as he got up, not caring anymore that the woman could see his ass. He searched for his clothes through the mess, ignoring the rest of Charlotte's words as she continued to talk. Once he had gathered all of his belongings, he bolted downstairs where he dressed himself.

Charlotte waved at him from the top of the stairs as he left without looking back.

"Mom!" Blaine came back to his room and glared at his mother. "Do you always have to do that?" he said in an exasperated tone as she just kept smiling.

"You're glad I came in, really. I know that you always struggle to get rid of your partners. And when it's not me, you call Sebastian to the rescue."

Blaine did not want to admit how true this statement was. Instead, he ignored her and went downstairs. He walked to his kitchen when he heard his phone ring. He picked it up and groaned when he saw who was calling.

"Thad, hello!" he greeted the other person with a forced cheerful tone.

His mom walked to the counter and started cleaning up the mess so that she could find some free space to cook.

"Of course, I've almost finished it," Blaine muttered.

He walked to his laptop and opened some kind of software.

"No, really, you don't have to…"

He was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. He started to tell Charlotte not to get it but she was already walking towards the door.

"Blaine, that is rude and not the way I raised you," she chastised him before she let their visitor inside.

"Mrs. Anderson," Thad greeted her with a big smile, "how lovely to see you!"

"Oh Thadeus, you always know how to make an old woman blush," she replied, a bit flustered.

Blaine let out a groan and tried to ignore them.

"Blaine! My man!" Thad walked inside and pulled the other man into a hug. "I hope for your sake that the piece is done," he added just loud enough that only Blaine could hear him. The musician nodded and broke their embrace.

Thad smiled and walked to the laptop. He stared at it for a few minutes then turned to Blaine with a glare. Blaine mentally cursed himself for leaving the project file open. It was clear that his piece was not completed yet.

In the background, Charlotte said something about needing to be somewhere and left them with a loud kiss on each of their cheeks.

"Blaine," Thad started in a tone that never failed to worry Blaine. "You are aware that we have the meeting with Marc Ericksen in…" he checked his watch, "less than two hours."

Blaine shrugged, trying to appear unaffected by this. He had actually nearly finished the piece, but there was just a little something missing. Mind you, having to compose a thirty-second jingle for a stupid Yogurt ad was not the most inspiring job.

"Blaine," Thad sighed as he closed the laptop with a clapping sound, "you know that this is our last chance to sell the music for a company this huge in the country, right? Ericksen is really demanding and I hope for your sake that you'll manage to compose something before we meet him."

Blaine nodded, too intimidated to form any words.

"If we don't get this contract, you're fired," Thad concluded and walked out of the loft.

The young musician slumped against the door and gave himself a minute to take this all in. Then he surged to the laptop and tried to complete his piece.

* * *

An hour later, he was holding his sheet music proudly as he walked up the stairs to meet up with the rest of his working team. He was about to walk over to Wes, who was the only colleague he considered a friend, but then he noticed Thad looking in his direction. The other man sent him a look that clearly said _you better not fuck this up_. Blaine nodded confidently, showing off his piece with a smile. Their silent exchange was interrupted by the arrival of Mr. Ericksen and the rest of his team. He walked right to Thad and shook his hand as a greeting. Blaine shared a look with Wes; they had their own nickname for the man: "Assholeksen".

Mr. Ericksen led them all to the room where they would demonstrate their project for the company.

They played the ad without the music first. Then, Mr. Ericksen asked Blaine to hand him the music. He looked through it with an unreadable expression. Then he asked his assistant to play the ad again but with the tune added in this time.

Blaine held his breathe the whole thirty seconds that the piece played. When it was over and all the lights were back on, he chanced a glance in Ericksen's direction. Once again, the man's face told him nothing. Then, he turned to Thad who, like him, was trying to gauge the other's man's reaction.

"Is that it?" Mr. Ericksen asked them as the demonstration was over. He turned to Blaine and met his gaze. "This needs more notes," he added as he nearly threw the sheet music back in the composer's arms.

"More notes?" Blaine asked, confused.

"Yes, you know, these little black and white things that you draw on lines and that create music," he answered in mocking tone.

Blaine flushed as the rest of the room laughed at the joke. The young man caught Wes sending a sympathetic look in his direction but his friend did not dare say anything to defend him.

As Ericksen and the rest of his team walked out, Thad came to Blaine and said,

"You better work on this and have a new piece ready for tomorrow morning."

"I'm not fired yet," Blaine pointed out, feeling a need to piss off his superior even more.

"I'd be careful if I were you. That man has the power to have you on the black list of all the companies under his name. That would mean you would never get any chance to even compose for a movie soundtrack since he owns most of their labels and his name is highly respected by all the others."

Blaine did not answer. He just took off with his music under his arm. He ran down the stairs not paying attention to anyone around him.

Once in the street, he found it was raining buckets. _Great_, he thought, _this was just great_. He looked around for Trent, the guy who was supposed to take care of his car, but he was nowhere to be found. He turned to his old convertible and noticed that the roof was only half up. He groaned and waited in the rain until Trent, who had his keys, returned.

Behind him, a young man came out struggling with a pile of files and his ringing phone. He cursed in French as he realized that it was heavily raining.

"_C'est quoi cette poubelle? Comment mon taxi va-t-il pouvoir se garer si cette épave est dans le chemin?_"

Blaine turned to look at the other man who was clearly talking about Blaine's car. It was not a piece of garbage. He was about to tell that to the other man when suddenly, the stranger slipped and fell with all his files flying around him. Blaine tried not to laugh because this must have hurt. Instead, he bent down, started gathering the papers that could still be salvaged from the rain, and handed them to the man who was still on the wet concrete. Blaine held out his hand for the stranger to take but he ignored him and pushed himself back onto his feet without even thanking Blaine for his papers.

The musician turned back to his car, wondering if he could maybe come back and pick it up later. He did not want to stay here one moment more. The whole morning had been a series of disasters and now this annoying man was there cursing at him in French again. Something flew right at the stranger's head and Blaine winced in sympathy. The guy was irritating but somehow Blaine felt guilty, as he recognized it was his car keys that had hit the other man. He bent down to pick them from the ground and stood back up.

Blaine had not realized how close he was standing to the other man. Nor had he noticed how stunning he was. For a short moment, it felt like everything stopped. The world grew silent and a quiet music started to fill the atmosphere. The other man looked right in his eyes.

_Wow_. Blaine was speechless at how they looked. They were not just blue; there were nuances of grey, green and even gold around the irises. Then the man smiled and Blaine felt the music intensify in his head. It was taking over him completely. After a few seconds, he returned the smile and he could swear that the other man's eyes started to twinkle.

The moment was broken when Trent yelled at him that he was sorry he had forgotten to put up the roof of the car. Blaine kept looking at the beautiful stranger who was still smiling, before turning to Trent to tell him that it was alright.

Blaine gestured stupidly with his keys and towards his car trying to suggest that he could give a ride to this man whose name he did not know.

The stranger wrinkled his nose in disgust as he laid his eyes on the car.

"So that's yours?" he asked, speaking in English for the first time.

Blaine loved the sound of the man's voice now that he was no longer yelling profanities in French. It was such an improvement and Blaine wanted to hear more.

"Yeah," he replied with a shrug. "It's no taxi but it gets me where I need to be, plus it's vintage," he added with a smile, well aware that his car _was_ old.

"It's a piece of garbage. I'd rather be walking, thank you very much."

Blaine's smile fell. The stranger started walking towards the road. Just as he reached the edge of the sidewalk, a bus passed by and drove right into a puddle sending dirty rain water and mud on the other man who shrieked as he got completely soaked.

Blaine walked over to him, trying not to laugh, because_ seriously, this was just a bit cliché now_, and said,

"Come on, now you can't get any lower. You might as well climb in my 'piece of garbage'so I can give you a ride home."

The soaked man turned to him and Blaine smiled softly, offering him his hand.

"My name's Kurt by the way."

"I'm Blaine."

Kurt reached for Blaine's hand and let himself be led to the car. He tried to ignore thoughts of what his friends would say if they were to see him now.

The ride to Kurt's place took a good thirty minutes. They both remained silent for the first ten minutes. Then Kurt started panicking over some meeting in a few hours that he had to get ready for. He mentally cursed his assistant Brittany for scheduling it on his afternoon off.

"You really can't drive any faster than this?" Kurt whined, looking at his watch and glaring in Blaine's direction. They were so slow that even a bike had passed them by as they took the next turn.

"I told you it was vintage. I don't want to wreck it."

"Right," Kurt huffed in annoyance.

"At least you're a bit drier now," the musician said, stopping him from laughing as Kurt turned to look at him. He looked like an adorable drowned kitten.

"Are you always this funny?" the other man asked in a clipped tone.

"Only when they're cute," Blaine replied, focusing back on the road.

Kurt turned as his cheeks flushed. He let himself wonder about the man sitting next to him.

Kurt was having one of the worst days. His ex-husband had stormed into his office yelling about some worthless work team. He had also told Kurt that he needed him to be present for another banquet that night so that he could play their charade as usual. The young man hated that he still had to pretend to be Marc Ericksen's husband for the image of the company. Kurt wanted out but he knew that it was not an option. So he had greeted his teeth and forced a smile on his face as he had accepted Marc's invitation for the event. Then his assistant had fucked up with his meeting schedule. There were days he wanted to fire her but he owed a friend. Kurt had then run down the stairs hoping that Brittany had thought of calling him a taxi. Of course then it had been raining cats and dogs, no taxi was in sight and he had met the annoying man whose car he was in now.

Kurt had first thought that Blaine was just an irritating person who would jump at the occasion to laugh at all his misadventures with the rain, the keys and then the bus soaking him with dirt and water. Kurt bet that Blaine would have laughed at him had he realized who he was. He had seen Blaine a few times with Thad talking with Richard, his ex's associate. The other man was probably among those who never missed an opportunity to mock Marc and give him ridiculous nicknames. Blaine clearly had no idea who Kurt was though, or he probably would never have offered him a ride.

As annoying and overbearing as Blaine had seemed to him, Kurt could not shake the curiosity he felt about him. Something had happened on that sidewalk. For a short moment, Kurt had realized how gorgeous the other man was with his dark brown curls and his hazel eyes with specs of gold. But not just that, it had felt like everything else around them had stopped. For a minute, Kurt had felt like he was in some old clichéd movie and that some cheesy song played in the background as their eyes had met for the first time.

Kurt was intrigued by this man. Something felt wrong at the thought he was working for a company like _Ericksen: Art et Divertissement_. Surely, someone like Blaine saw how pointless it was to be an employee for this company. Then again, maybe he was only doing it for the money; although Kurt doubted the job Blaine must have would pay well.

After twenty more minutes, they had arrived at the street where Kurt lived. Blaine stopped the car near the sidewalk and cut the engine.

Kurt started gathering his files in his arms and let himself out of the car.

"Thank you for the ride, even though I'm convinced it would have been faster if I had walked."

There was no venom in Kurt's words anymore. He was just joking and genuinely grateful for Blaine's help.

The musician had been too distracted by how stunning Kurt looked in the sun now that the rain had stopped a few minutes before to even noticed what sort of neighborhood they had driven into.

"Holy shit! You live here?" he exclaimed as he took in their surroundings. They were on a beautiful residential street and clearly an apartment there must be really expensive. Even with all his life savings, Blaine would never be able to afford to live in such a place.

"Yeah, my place is on the second floor over there," Kurt replied, ignoring Blaine's stunned expression, and pointed to one of the buildings on the left of the street. "I should be going."

Blaine nodded and climbed back in his car after helping Kurt with his files. They shared one last look before the other man walked towards his building. The musician kept looking at him until he was gone then he turned on his radio and laughed as he heard the first chords of _"_As Time Goes By_"_ start playing. As a kid, he had confessed to his mother that if he met someone when this song was playing then he would fall in love with them.

Blaine sighed as he turned the volume up and started the engine again. He was about to pull into the road when he saw Kurt running towards him. The man was breathless. He climbed back in the car and smiled. Blaine was completely taken by surprise when Kurt pulled him in a deep kiss. It lasted until the song ended.

**Chapter End Notes:**

Translations:

"Il se passe quoi?" : "What's going on?"  
"Putain…" : "Fuck..."  
"Tes parents ne t'ont pas appris les bonnes manières?" : "Didn't your parents teach you some manners"  
"Je me casse," : "I'm out of here" (he's leaving)

"C'est quoi cette poubelle? Comment mon taxi va-t-il pouvoir se garer si cette épave est dans le chemin?" - "What is that piece of garbage? How on earth is my taxi going to park if that old thing is in the way?"

"Ericksen: Art et Divertissement" : Ericksen: Art and Enetertainment.


	3. Chapter Two

_**A huge thank you to my beta**_

_**who once again did a wonderful job in helping me shaping and correcting this new chapter.**_

_**Little warning,there is a quite long smut scene in the secong half of the chapter. Wall sex and mention of oversensitivity, hint at rimming.**_

_**So we left Kurt and Blaine while they were kissing after they just met. Here's what happened next.**_

* * *

Music filled the _Jazz;_ Virginie, a young guitarist of barely eighteen years old played to entertain the patrons that night. Her music was very different from Blaine's. Right now, she was doing a cover of one of her favorite songs by Serge Gainsbourg: "La Javanaise". The atmosphere was festive and relaxed.

Blaine was sitting in between Mike and Jeff, a stupid smile plastered on his face since he entered the place. His friends had asked him earlier about it but he'd ignored them. Sebastian said it was because of their show finally getting a chance at being picked up. After all, they had been working on the project for almost five years; it was their dream. Not just Sebastian and Blaine's dream but their friends' as well. At first, it had only been the two of them. But thanks to Jeff's limitless imagination, Tina's incredible organization skills, which they never thought they would need, and Mike's contribution in choreography, they had managed to create something with the potential to be a real success.

Sebastian was now trying to schedule rehearsals and meetings so they would be ready for the presentation at the end of the month. M. Wethils was a very influential man in theatre productions. If they managed to convince him to take a chance on the show, they could be headed to national then, possibly, international fame.

Blaine was not thinking about the show, though. No, his thoughts were focused on what happened to him earlier that day. The young man closed his eyes; he could almost feel the rain falling on his face, the coolness of the wind hitting his wet cheeks. He could see those eyes again. He still wondered about their color.

Kurt.

Blaine licked his lips recalling the kiss. It had taken him by surprise. Kurt's soft lips still held the taste of rainwater with a hint of mud. Blaine had felt like something inside of him was shattering. He could not remember anyone who had ever made him feel this way: a sensation of falling with no fear of crashing.

Kissing was something that Blaine always avoided with his string of lovers. He would let his lips trail along necks, cheeks, collarbones, and, well, sometimes on asses or dicks but never on the lips.

Blaine had dated once, when he was still in college, studying at Julliard. Gregory had been a few months younger than him. For five months, he was all Blaine cared about. They were in love and happy. But then doubts had started to creep in. Gregory had wanted to get a flat with Blaine in New York after they graduated from college. But the young musician wanted more from life than settle down with his boyfriend of just one year. He was still so young and wanted to experience life. It was the same time that Sebastian had made him a proposition to go to Paris. It had taken two months for Blaine to make a decision and he eventually chose to end his relationship with Gregory, leaving the other man heartbroken.

Blaine had not dated anyone since. He only took a lover, sometimes two depending on his mood, for the night and then moved to the next one. It was easier that way. No broken promises, no broken hearts.

Kurt had been his first kiss in years. Blaine had been caught completely off guard when it happened but he had still returned it. Then they had kissed some more, forgetting about the world around them for a few minutes, until Kurt really had to leave to get ready for his meeting. They had exchanged numbers. Kurt had promised he would call Blaine as soon as the event he had to attend that evening was over. Then he had run to his building leaving the musician with a tingling feeling on his lips and a blissful expression on his face.

That smile was still there.

After Sebastian was done planning their schedule to prepare for the show, Tina turned back to Blaine and asked him again why he looked so ridiculously happy.

"It can't be just because of the show, even though it is wonderful news," she said before he could even reply, "Something happened today so spill Anderson!"

"It also can't be anything related to work because Wes told me how much a disaster _that_ was," Nick added, looking pointedly at Blaine.

Blaine sighed, his smile remaining. Yes, Nick was right, that morning had been awful until Kurt. Well, no, not until Kurt because the other man had been really insufferable at first.

"Come on Blaine!" Tina poked him on the side. "We're dying here," she added in a dramatic tone.

Blaine laughed softly at her antics and finally said,

"I met someone."

That caught the attention of the rest of their booth.

"What's his name?" Tina immediately asked, "Is he cute? Oh, I bet he is or you wouldn't be smiling like some kind of big idiot!"

"He's…" Words were lacking to describe Kurt. Blaine did not know how to describe what he had felt when the other man had met his gaze for the first time. "He's got those eyes… and teeth…" he said in a dreamy tone.

"Eyes and teeth, well, he really must be one of a kind," Sebastian sarcastically replied.

"He's just…" He was cut off by the sound of phone ringing.

Blaine searched his pocket for it and picked up without looking at the Caller ID.

"Hey," a soft voice greeted him at the other end of the line.

"Hi," Blaine answered, recognizing it was Kurt.

Tina picked up on his expression and mouthed at Mike _It must be him_, her eyes wide with excitement. Mike just laughed at his wife and gestured at her to stay quiet so that the rest of them could listen what Blaine was saying to his lover boy.

"Sure, I'd love that!" Blaine said, standing up and starting to gather his things.

Sebastian glared up at him.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked his best friend, "We're supposed to discuss about the scene we'll present to…" Tina covered his mouth with her hand as she pushed Blaine out of the booth with her other arm.

Sebastian was tempted to bite her fingers but the look Mike sent his way discouraged him. Instead, he watched the musician leave their booth and heading towards the exit of the bar. Sebastian slumped back in his seat and willed himself not to lash out at his friends. One thing was certain: he may not have met Blaine's new love interest yet but he already despised him.

* * *

Blaine's car was emitting a strange noise. He had driven faster than usual without caring about the state of the old engine. It had taken him less than ten minutes to get to Kurt's building. Once parked, he climbed out the car and ran to the main door that was already open. He then rushed up the stairs to the second floor, which Kurt had told him earlier was where he lived. Blaine was a bit out of breath once he reached the door and knocked three times. He was about to repeat the gesture when Kurt answered. His eyes immediately lit up when he saw that it was Blaine. Without warning, the young man took hold of the musician's shirt and pulled him inside.

Kurt led Blaine to the end of the corridor in hurried steps and then pushed him inside the bedroom. Blaine had barely any time to take in the room before Kurt pressed him against the wall and crashed their lips together in a fervent kiss.

"I've been thinking of doing this all day," Kurt breathed hotly against Blaine's lips before trailing his own along the other man's jaw.

Blaine moaned when he felt Kurt's thigh pressing on his growing erection. The musician pushed him back a bit, trying to signal that if they didn't slow down he wouldn't last. It was ridiculous but at the moment Blaine felt like he was a teenager again. He hadn't been this turned on in years!

Kurt started to strip, giving Blaine some space so that he could do the same. He was already down to his boxers when he noticed Blaine was still leaning against the wall completely dressed. Kurt raised an eyebrow at him in question but then an idea came to him and he smirked. He came close and let his hands roam all over Blaine's body. He allowed his fingers to explore every dip and curve from chest to hips. He took his time, ignoring Blaine's request to go faster, and reached for the first buttons on the other man's shirt. He slowly unbuttoned them, reveling in the sight of the new patches of naked skin revealed to his eyes. Kurt licked his lips, his eyes dark with arousal.

"Kurt, please…" Blaine started to speak, but was cut off by the sensation of Kurt's lips around his left nipple. Shots of pleasure ran down to his spine as Kurt bit lightly on the nub. Blaine felt warmth spread all over his body. As Kurt was about to lick his way to the other nipple, Blaine yanked him back up for a more heated kiss. He thrusted his tongue inside Kurt's mouth making the other man groan deeply in his throat. Kurt's nails sank into the skin of Blaine's naked chest. He let a loud moan escape when Blaine sucked hard on his tongue before biting on his lower lip. Kurt needed more.

"Condoms," he uttered as Blaine attacked his jaw, "Do you have some?"

Blaine breathed hot in Kurt's left ear and then moved back a little and started to dig inside his pockets. It only took him a few seconds to find what he was looking for. He pulled his hand out with a triumphant smile and held out two condoms with a little packet of lube.

"You or me?" he asked while he coated his fingers with lube.

"You first," Kurt replied shedding his last piece of clothing.

Blaine paused, looking for the first time at Kurt since they had entered the room. Blaine swallowed, noticing how dry his mouth had become. Kurt's skin was nearly glowing in the pale light coming from the window. It looked so smooth to the touch; only a few freckles were marring the otherwise flawless skin. Blaine let his gaze go a little lower to Kurt's perfectly toned stomach. He licked his lips at the sight of Kurt's flushed cock, curving towards his belly, its darker color contrasting with the light skin of the rest of Kurt's body. Blaine raised his hand, itching to touch, but Kurt grew impatient.

"I'll get myself ready while you undress," he said, gesturing at Blaine's still mostly clothed body.

The musician really had to force himself to focus on his task instead of what Kurt was doing with two fingers already buried deep inside of him. Blaine stared at the slow back and forth movement that they made as Kurt started to fuck himself on them.

"Fuck." He could not help coming nearer to get a closer look. "Fuck, Kurt…" He pushed his index finger along Kurt's other two making the other man gasp in surprise and moan almost wantonly.

"Blaine, hurry…" Kurt's tone was pleading now.

Blaine got rid of his pants and boxers and put the condom on his straining erection. He bit his lower lip hard as he touched himself for the first time since they had started. Kurt pulled his fingers out of himself and hovered over Blaine's body. Blaine kissed him, slowly opening the other man's mouth with his tongue. Kurt keened when Blaine lowered his hands to his ass and spread his cheeks. Kurt started to tremble, inching as close as possible to the other body, his hand searching for Blaine's cock.

"Fuck me, Blaine," he mouthed along Blaine's neck, "now."

Blaine pushed Kurt off him and, before the other man had any time to react, he inversed their position and shoved Kurt against the bedroom door. He held on tight to Kurt's waist and lifted him, guiding the man's legs around his waist. Blaine held Kurt up with one hand, using the other to reach for his dick and then guided it to Kurt's hole. He slid inside in one thrust making them both moan as he bottomed out.

"Blaine…" Kurt whimpered as he tried to get the other man to move.

"Fuck, you're tight" Blaine breathed against the other man's sweaty collarbone. He could feel the heat spreading between their two bodies, the tight heat surrounding his cock. He started to pull out slowly and then pushed back in hard and fast.

Kurt bit down on Blaine's shoulder to muffle a scream of pleasure.

"Come on, move," he pleaded against the hot skin under his lips, "I can take it."

Suddenly, Blaine lost all the self-control he had left and started to thrust at a faster pace. The sound of their harsh breathing and slapping flesh filled the room. Kurt could already feel that he was close. Blaine let desire take over completely, the only thing that mattered was the delicious friction and the heat around his cock. Soon he started to feel Kurt's hole clench on his dick and it nearly sent him over the edge.

Kurt reached for his aching cock and began to stroke. Blaine hands pushed his away and took over stroking him, bringing the other man closer to orgasm. Kurt panted inside Blaine's mouth as he felt himself let go, his whole body shaking from the intensity of his orgasm. Blaine followed a few seconds after, coming hard inside the other man's body, the clenching of Kurt's asshole around his dick being too much for him to hold out anymore.

They both slumped against the door, breathing heavily.

"Blaine…" Kurt whispered, his breath too hot against Blaine's cooling skin. "I need you to…" He pushed lightly at the other man's hips. Blaine slowly pulled out making them both hiss a little from oversensitivity. The musician reached for some tissues on top of the nearby chest of drawers. He put the used condom in the first tissue and used the other to clean the stickiness from his and Kurt's chests. Once he was done, he rolled the tissues together and discarded them on the floor. Kurt started to protest that he needed to clean this up but Blaine shut him up with a kiss. They pulled a part with matching grins on their faces.

Then, they slowly made their way to the bed, their lips remaining attached to each other all the way. Kurt was the first to fall on top of the covers. He lay on his stomach enjoying the coolness of the fabric underneath him. Blaine joined him, his front turned towards the other man. He smiled softly at Kurt whose hair was now disheveled and sticking to his forehead. He allowed his fingers to tangle in the damp mess and caressed Kurt's scalp in slow strokes. The other man hummed contentedly, his eyes fluttering open to meet Blaine's gaze. Something in Kurt's chest stirred as he was faced with such a look of adoration from the other man.

"Feels good," he sighed as Blaine let his fingers trail down his back, tracing the lines of his spine down to the swell of his ass.

They remained like that for a few more minutes until Kurt started to get hard again from Blaine's ministration. His hands were getting a firmer grip on Kurt's ass cheeks, spreading them apart and leaving his still sore hole exposed. Blaine then slipped two fingers back inside and thrusted them slowly in and out, reveling at how the ring of muscle was clenching around them, trying to keep them where they were. Kurt whimpered feebly, still feeling a bit too sensitive.

"Blaine…"

Blaine shushed him and leaned above the other's body. He started laying kisses on his shoulder first, licking the beads of sweat that had remained there. He felt Kurt shift under him, the other man trying to get some friction even though he felt it was too soon after his first orgasm.

"I want to taste you, Kurt." The other man shivered when the hot air of Blaine's breath hit his ear and the implication of what Blaine was saying sank in. "Can I?" Blaine asked his tone now softer. He did not want to push too hard.

Blaine turned Kurt's body gently so that the other man was facing him. His cheeks were flushed and his lips slightly parted. Kurt yawned then, and the musician chuckled.

"Maybe we can save it for some other time then," Blaine whispered, without realizing the meaning of what he said.

"I'd like that," Kurt replied sleepily. "We should get under the covers now." He started getting up and pulled down the bed covers so they could slip inside.

Blaine hesitated. He had never stayed at someone else's place, apart from Sebastian's, but that was completely different, or Gregory's when they used to date.

Kurt didn't notice that Blaine was still sitting at the end of the bed. After a few more seconds of internal conflict, the musician decided to stay. At least this way, there was no risk that his mother would interrupt another round of mind-blowing sex. With that thought in mind, Blaine joined Kurt under the covers and cuddled up to the other man who sighed in content.

* * *

It was at least two hours since they had both drifted off to sleep when a quiet knock was heard in the apartment. Blaine felt Kurt move next to him but the other man did not get up to see what the noise was. Then, the handle of the door went down and a little boy walked straight over to the bed.

Several things happened in that instant. The boy came nearer, tears running down his face saying he had dreamt of monsters again. At the same moment, Kurt shrieked loudly and pushed Blaine off him and out of the bed with so much force that the musician nearly flew in the air, tangled in sheets before hitting the ground with a thud. Blaine then crawled naked across the cold parquet as fast as he could, going under the bed and praying this was all just a dream.

The sound from above him proved that this was really happening. There was a little boy in the room and from what he could hear; Kurt was trying to comfort him.

_A kid! There was a freaking kid living with Kurt! Was Kurt even single?_ Blaine had no time to ponder about this because Kurt was now pulling on his arm to get him out of his hiding place. The musician sighed with relief when he saw that the boy was now sleeping. _They're less intimidating when asleep_, Blaine thought to himself. Kurt looked at him strangely but said nothing. He just walked back to the little boy and took him in his arms. The other man dreaded Kurt waking the child but the blonde-haired boy remained deeply asleep. Kurt then took Blaine by the hand and led him outside the room. They walked to the end of the corridor where the door was slightly ajar. Kurt pulled him inside the bedroom. There was a soft light near one of the smaller beds. Kurt laid the little boy on it and tucked him back in. Blaine's attention was now on the second bed in the room. A dark-skinned boy was fast asleep with only his head emerging from under the covers. Kurt came back and they both walked out.

"The older one is Simon and Samuel is the one who woke us up," Kurt explained quietly, to avoid waking up his younger son again.

Blaine had no time to say anything before Kurt grabbed his hand again and led him to another door. He pushed it open quietly. The light from the corridor was just enough to make out the figure of a young girl, probably fourteen or fifteen, buried under the covers.

"This is Clara," Kurt whispered as he closed the door. "She's not technically mine but she's part of the family now, too."

Noticing Blaine had remained silent since they left the bedroom, Kurt asked him,

"Is everything okay?"

Still no response.

Kurt fidgeted a bit, "I know it can seem a bit intimidating but they're wonderful children," his smile faltered as Blaine let go of his hand and started to walk back to the bedroom, still awfully silent.

Once inside, Blaine gathered his clothes and dressed as quickly as he could. It was then he noticed he was shaking. _This could not be happening._

Kurt had walked right behind him and was now looking confused at Blaine's reaction. He understood that a single father could scare some men away but he had hoped that Blaine would not be like that. He almost regretted "introducing", as it was, his children to the other man now.

"Blaine…"

The musician was now fully dressed. He walked to Kurt and pecked him lightly on the lips, but he pushed the other man away when Kurt tried to properly kiss him. He ignored the slightly hurt look on Kurt's face.

"I have to go," is all he said as he walked out of the bedroom and then out of the apartment.

Once out on the street, he ran to his car. The drive back home was even faster than when he had driven to Kurt's earlier that night.

Kurt had looked through the window as Blaine had literally fled from him. He sighed, maybe Blaine would come back after it had all sunk in and he had time to think. Kurt really hoped he would return.

_Please, let this time be different._ He prayed to the god he did not believe in, as he climbed back into his bed. The sheets were already cold.


	4. Chapter Three

**_A/N: I want to apologize for the late update... Things have been a bit heptic in life and I had less time to focus on my writing. Then, technical problems with mails occured and it delayed the beta process... All in all, I'm sorry you had to wait. I have already started writing chapter four so hopefully it won't take as long next time._**

**_This chapter takes place the day after Kurt and Blaine slept together. _**

**_Thank you to the people who took time to leave reviews on the previews chapters, it's great to know that you're liking the story so far._**

**_Enjoy reading :)_**

* * *

**Chapter Three:**

Things were slow at _Le Petit Ney_ that morning. The usual waves of students were already gone at this hour and only the rare person who had taken the day off was sitting on the terrace of the lovely coffee shop. The sun was already high in the sky; it was nearly midday Blaine was sitting at his favorite table. The musician loved coming to this place. He had discovered it one day as he had been walking through the streets looking for some inspiration. The little coffee shop had looked inviting to him. Since that day, he came at least twice a week to enjoy the delicious coffee and, of course, the food. Mélanie, the owner of the place, had a real gift for baking. On Wednesday evenings, groups of students and others came to sit at the largest table inside and discuss the books they had read since their last meeting. It was not really a book club; anyone could come and enjoy talking about their favorite novel, play or poems. Sometimes, some teachers would join them and they would debate on more literary aspects of a novel. Blaine enjoyed coming to the meetings. He did not really talk. Often, he would bring along his guitar and play a tune or two he had written, inspired by something one of the others had said.

Right now, Blaine was neither reading nor playing his instrument. No, he was feeling restless. After what had happened with Kurt the night before, he had not managed to catch any sleep. For a couple of hours he had dreamt of Kurt opening door after door, leading to more bedrooms filled with more kids. After that, Blaine had decided to get out of bed and try to work on his piece for the advertisement. That had not worked well either. He was convinced that Thad would not get the contract and then fire Blaine…

Blaine sighed. He felt like so many things were just not going the way he wanted lately. His phone lit up signaling another incoming call. The musician did not even need to look at the Caller ID; he already knew it would be Kurt _(again)_.

The other man had tried to call him three times that morning. He had also texted him a few times. Blaine had not replied. It had been early and Blaine could pretend that he was still asleep. But now, it was the middle of the day and Kurt was calling him again. Before he could decide to send the call to voicemail, Jeff jogged to his table and sat down.

"I'm sorry it took me so long," he apologized, he cheeks flushed red and his brow glistening with sweat, "Nick had something he wanted to show me and it couldn't wait."

Blaine put his mobile back in his pocket.

"It's okay. I have nothing to do today," he lied. He still had to complete the piece for the ad and Thad would probably come to him with some other new task that afternoon.

"Right," Jeff replied unconvinced.

Mélanie came to their table and asked for their order.

_"Juste un café pour moi, Mél"_ Jeff said with a big smile. She knew what he liked the most and he trusted her with his order.

_"Un cappuccino et un croissant, s'il te plait,"_ Blaine told her.

_"Je vous amène ça tout de suite,"_ she said as she walked back inside to prepare their order.

Jeff turned back to his friend who seemed to be a bit lost in thought.

"So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?" the blonde man asked.

Blaine sighed again. He was not sure why he had even asked Jeff to come in the first place. He knew that he could not talk to Sebastian about what had happened with Kurt. His best friend would have only laughed, knowing Blaine's problem with children. And talking to Tina had been out of the question. She wanted to be a mother. It was all she had been talking about for months and she was still trying to convince Mike to have a baby but her husband maintained that they were not ready yet. If Blaine had told her how he had literally bolted out of Kurt's apartment because of the children, she would have hit him. No, really, she would have gone mental on him. He still remembered that time when she had to babysit for a friend. Blaine had been at her place that day and when he saw the little girl he had invented some excuse to leave the house. Tina had seen right through his lie and let him have it. Blaine was still scared of her each time she went near a rolling pin.

"Blaine! Are you even listening to me?"

The musician shook his head to clear his mind and focus back on the conversation. "Sorry, I was…"

"What's wrong with you man?" his friend asked him, concern starting to seep into his tone.

"Nothing, I just didn't sleep much."

Blaine's phone vibrated again in his pocket. Jeff caught his friend's gaze on the mobile.

"Aren't you going to pick up?" he asked, seeing that the musician just ignored whoever was calling him.

"Nah, it's fine. Probably just Thad wanting to annoy me with some other crap project to work on." Blaine pulled his phone out and then turned it off. "There, now he won't bother me again."

Mélanie arrived with both their orders. They thanked her and paid for the coffees and the croissant. As usual they gave her a generous tip. She was practically a friend to them. She thanked them in French and gave them a huge smile before heading back inside.

Blaine's smile fell again once she was gone.

"Are you sure you're okay man?" Jeff persisted, he could see that his friend was really tired but something felt off. There was definitely more that Blaine was not telling him.

"Yeah, like I said, I didn't sleep much last night." He punctuated this with a yawn.

Jeff smirked at that. He knew where Blaine had gone the previous night. They had all heard him while the musician was on the phone with his mysterious guy.

"Of course you didn't," he said in a knowing tone, "Was it that good?" Jeff loved hearing stories about Blaine's lovers. A few times, it inspired him to try new things with Nick, but he would never tell that to Blaine. "So are you going to tell me?" he asked, leaning over the table, waiting for the juicy details.

Blaine snapped his eyes up to his friend. He was not sure if he wanted to share this time.

"I… yeah… he was really… yeah," was all he said.

"Wow, he must have been really good if that's all the eloquence left in you!" Jeff laughed at his own joke.

Blaine smiled a bit.

"He was really good yeah," he said a bit more clearly. "I mean, I've had some really amazing fucks the past few years but I definitely think he was the best."

"Better than the Italian guy from work?" Jeff asked, a bit incredulous. "Or no, wait, was he even better than Seb?" He just really wanted to know.

"You are never going to let that one go, are you? Seb and I were both drunk and to tell you the truth it was not _that_ good. I mean, sure, I enjoyed myself quite a bit but I wouldn't want a repeat," Blaine replied. "And to answer your question, I think that I can't really compare Kurt to any of the others."

Jeff leaned even closer, eager to hear more.

"Really?" he tried not to sound too excited. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, for starters, I never had a lover who ended up having three fucking kids!" Blaine nearly yelled. A few people walking by the terrace stopped in their tracks to stare at their table. Blaine glared at the couple that was sending him disapproving looks.

"Wait, what?" Jeff asked, taking back his initial position in the chair. This was not what he had expected from the conversation.

"Three of them – one even came in the room after we were finished." Blaine buried his face in his hands_. _Why was he even telling Jeff any of this? It's not like it mattered anyway. Blaine was never going to see Kurt again.

"Three?" Jeff's eyes were open wide. "Wow, that's… wow," was all that he could add.

"Yeah, well, technically only two are his and the third one, a girl, has recently joined his family."

The blonde man tried to take all this in.

"How did you react?" he asked, fearing what Blaine would say.

"How do you think?!" the musician replied in a sarcastic tone. "I ran as fast and as far away as I could."

_Oh Blaine_, Jeff thought to himself. He could easily picture his friend, half naked, running out of the apartment and bolting for his car.

"What did he say?" the blonde man asked, not sure if he wanted to know.

"I don't really know actually," Blaine replied, looking down at his hands, his fingers were fiddling with his phone; he had turned it on again. He had received a new text from Kurt.

"Blaine?" Jeff looked at his friend. He could perfectly understand Blaine's reaction to children; it was old news to him. The amount of times he had witnessed his friend running for the hills each time a child came too close for comfort. Still, Jeff still felt like there was something more that Blaine was not telling him. The way he was avoiding meeting his gaze, or how he kept looking down at his phone, was telling Jeff that he should try to find out more.

"I think I may like him," Blaine finally said, barely loud enough for his friend to hear.

"Oh, well… that's a good thing, isn't it?" Jeff tried to sound encouraging. How many times had he and Nick tried to set Blaine up hoping that Blaine would consider starting a new relationship?

"No! It really isn't!" Blaine was so frustrated. Kurt was still trying to contact him and he just wanted to throw his phone and run. But he didn't; he had no idea why.

"Okay, try to calm down and let's think this through." Jeff took the phone out of Blaine's hand and ignored his friend's protest. He scrolled through the texts to see what this guy _"Kurt"_ had to say. "Well, he doesn't sound angry at least," he said, after having read the first texts that Kurt had sent.

**From Kurt – 08h20**

_Hi Blaine, I was wondering if we could see each other tonight again. I have an event I have to attend but I'll be free after midnight. Or maybe we could get coffee this afternoon and talk some more. I really enjoyed being with you last night. Let me know if you're free._

**From Kurt – 09h00**

_You're probably still in bed so I'm going to wait till 10 to call you back._

**From Kurt – 10h45**

_I really hope that you're still in bed…_

Jeff looked up at his friend. Blaine was avoiding his gaze again.

"Blaine…"

"Let it go okay. I can't do this. Plus, there's the show. I need to focus. Sebastian will kill me if I get distracted."

"But…" Jeff did not know what to say. He hated seeing his friend look so lost and restless. Clearly, this Kurt guy was not just another simple one-night stand. "Maybe just this once, you could give it a chance."

"Three kids, Jeff. There's no way I'm ever getting near him again," he answered stubbornly.

"Fine, whatever," Jeff gave up for now. "Just let me remind you of this guy I once met. He used to tell me that one day we would all find the one person we're meant for. And I believed this boy. I just wonder why he can't believe himself anymore now." Jeff looked sadly at his friend and then stood up.

Blaine looked at his retreating friend. He sighed again as he felt his phone vibrate to signal another text. The musician did not bother opening it and just deleted it. He was not even sure why he was ignoring Kurt. He could easily pick up and tell him that he really believed that they should not see each other again. He could invent some excuse about being too busy or be honest and admit that he doesn't want to get involved in something serious.

The problem was that Blaine wanted to see Kurt again. The previous night, minus the encounter with the kids, had been incredible. For a few hours, he had felt happy, truly happy, not just the kind of joy that springs on you unexpectedly but never lasts. There had also been a real connection, something strong and intense between himself and Kurt. Like with their first kiss, Kurt had shaken his world.

Blaine sighed as he finished his cup of cappuccino. His gaze went to the busy street, not really looking at anything in particular. _Could he really see Kurt again? Maybe they could meet at his place, that way there wouldn't be any reminder of Kurt's family life._ The musician picked up his phone and scrolled through the texts sent by the other men. He read all of them. The more he did, the more he felt like a complete asshole. Maybe it would be better to keep his distance. He did not want to risk breaking Kurt's heart or his own…

* * *

Kurt's face fell when he went through his phone to check his messages. Blaine had still not replied to any of his texts. Maybe he should just give up.

"You've got a new man, Hummel?" Santana asked him as he put his phone back in his pocket. "You've been checking that thing since I arrived."

Kurt looked up to meet her knowing gaze. He sighed and ignored her question, focusing his attention back on his plate.

Santana was one of Kurt's friends from university. They became close during their year in London, both being part of an internship program in one of the most prestigious event planning company. Since then, they met at least once a week to catch up on each other's lives. A year ago, Santana used Kurt to get close to his new assistant. She was also the one who convinced Kurt to keep Brittany on the job.

"Kurt, are you even listening to me?" she asked him, her tone impatient.

"What?" he asked, having not really paid attention to what she was saying.

"I asked you what is keeping you glued to your phone?" she repeated, "Is it a new beau I don't know about yet?"

"It's nothing." He tried to deflect the conversation. He did not feel like talking about Blaine with Santana.

"I don't believe you." She was not letting this go. "Come on, spill Hummel!"

Kurt avoided her gaze and started to explain about his meeting with the musician the previous day. He, of course, left out all the details about the rain, the puddle of water, the keys and the old car in his description. He was about to tell her about the kiss when she interrupted him.

"You guys fucked then." She wasn't asking. It was obvious from Kurt's blush on his cheeks and neck.

Kurt groaned. She smirked.

"You're planning on seeing him again?" Santana asked him as he buried his face in his hands.

"Don't know," he mumbled through his fingers.

"What was that?"

"I said that I don't know." He removed his hands and raised his head again.

"Does Marc know?" She looked at her friend pointedly.

"How would he? I only met the guy yesterday," Kurt answered her in frustration.

"I'm just saying that because of your 'arrangement'," she made a quote gesture with her fingers and uttered the last word in an almost sarcastic tone, "You'd better let him know. Or, well, he's bound to find out sooner or later, were you to get serious with this guy."

Kurt glared at her. She never failed to remind him of this.

Kurt and Marc had been married for two years before they got a divorce. Kurt had an affair with another man, Paolo, whom he had met at one of Santana's infamous parties. Samuel and Simon were Kurt and Marc's children and ever since the divorce, they set up an arrangement so that they would not have to fight over custody. Kurt and Marc were officially divorced. Their family and closest friends knew but, for the image of the company, Kurt had to pretend that he was still married to Marc so that they would not have to answer indiscreet questions as to why they had separated. Marc did not want anyone to know that Kurt had cheated on him and made him look like a complete fool. He also did not want anyone to think that they had fallen out of love. Their story had been quite popular with many of their most important clients and Marc believed that it just gave a better image of union and harmony to _Ericksen: Art et Divertissement._

Kurt had not fought Marc on the term of the arrangement at first. He did not want to risk losing his little boys. He still cared about Marc and it had seemed the easier solution back then. Kurt had not really thought about how trapped he would feel. He had not foreseen that, because of the arrangement, Paolo would give him an ultimatum and eventually leave. Since then, it had been a bit difficult for Kurt to date someone. Marc always knew about it and as soon as he felt that the guys got too close to the boys, he would ask Kurt to either end things or not get his sons involved. Kurt and Marc had fought repeatedly about the terms of the arrangement. Kurt had also threatened to end it but the fear of losing Simon and Samuel always prevented him from actually following through with his words.

"You're just the trophy husband to him, Kurt," Santana reminded him, just like she often did once they'd breached the subject. "He only wants to parade you around, to show you off to his partners while you're not allowed living your life the way you want to."

"I'm happy, I have the boys and Clara is great too. I may not have someone to be with at the moment but things could be worse, San."

"You're fooling yourself, baby." She eyed him sadly.

He did not say another word. She was right of course. And he knew it. That was why he often fought with Marc. He tried several times to reason with the other man but always in vain. The truth was that despite the fact Kurt had ceased loving Marc a long time ago, the other man still had strong feelings for him. Kurt was sometimes afraid that because of this Marc would manage to keep him caged.

Kurt looked back at his phone. _Was he really ready to risk getting involved with someone and then watch him leave again?_

* * *

**Translation & notes:**

_Le Petit Ney : _This is a real coffee shop in Paris, Quartier de Montmartre. Just like in the story, it's managed by a young woman who is also organizing literrary meetings. You don't have to be a member of the club to go enjoy the coffee and pastries.

_"Juste un café pour moi, Mél" _: Just a coffee for me, Mél.

_"Un cappuccino et un croissant, s'il te plait," _: a coffee with a croissant please

_"Je vous amène ça tout de suite," : _I'm bringing this to you right away

_They became close during their year in London, both being part of an internship program in one of the most prestigious event planning company. :_Kurt's job is not event planner, well not only. He does organize and supervise most of the events given by Ericksen: Art et Divertissement. The internship was in London, he did it during summer after his two first years of University. He was 22 back then.


	5. Chapter Four

**_Hello,_**

**_As usual I say thank you to my wonderful beta just-another-piped-dreamer (url on tumblr) .com who not only helps with the chapters but her enthusiasm for the story also pushes me to keep writing. So, if you're enjoying the story, you can also be grateful for her because otherwise it probably wouldn't be as good. _**

**_Blaine's bed room is mentioned in this chapter (near the end) and maybe a visual would help some of you to understand a bit how it looks and where his room is located in the loft:_**

**_ img . youtube v i / VOw68mWTSO4 / 0 . jpg _**

**_That's only the view from Blaine's bed (it will be useful to know about the banister and stairs later on)_**

**_There is a new sex scene. I'm still not mastering the writing of smut so please be kind with me. _**

**_I hope you will enjoy reading this new update. Don't hesitate letting me know what you thought._**

**_My tumblr : embrace-is-love_**

**_Enjoy reading J_**

**_Cynthia_**

* * *

**Chapter 4:**

Sebastian waited nervously as neared the end of the notebook. It contained a rough outline of the show, some ideas about the set, the script and the music. Blaine had a half-finished piece that, if the musician managed to complete it _(for once),_ could also be used in the show.

The producer hummed with approval, or that is what Sebastian hoped, as he closed the notebook and laid it on the table.

"You have some really interesting ideas, very original," Mr. Wethils started with a kind smile. He so often saw young, talented people struggling to make it in such an unforgiving world. "I'm particularly intrigued with the setting of your show. Would it be performed live for the audience behind the screen?"

"Yes, the performance would be live," Sebastian answered, feeling hopeful, "I'm aware that it is going to be a real challenge and that there could be some safety issues during the part where the piano flies, but I have faith in our team and I know that Mike Chang, who is in charge of choreography, will see to it so everything goes swimmingly."

"I really like your enthusiasm, Mr. Smythe. Of course, I will need to think about it and discuss with potential co-producers," Mr. Wethils said in a gentle tone. "I believe that this show could get quite the buzz. Are you still ready for the presentation in two weeks?"

"Yes, I've talked it over with my best friend Blaine Anderson, the son of the great Harold Anderson, I'm sure you have heard of him," Sebastian answered. He knew well that mentioning Blaine's father could open doors in this business so he never missed an opportunity to name-drop in front of potential producers.

"Yes, of course, a veritable prodigy," Mr. Wethils nodded. "Is the son as talented as the father?"

"Blaine is his own man, but he definitely inherited his father's gift for music. We'll be both happy and honored to present you our show next Friday."

"I am looking forward to seeing it, Mr. Smythe." Mr. Wethils stood up and shook Sebastian's hand. "I'll see you then. Thank you for dinner."

"It was my pleasure Mr. Wethils," the young man said as they continued shaking hands. "I can guarantee you that you will not be sorry for giving us a chance."

Mr. Wethils nodded and then left.

Sebastian dug in his pocket for his phone and texted Blaine, Mike, Tina and Jeff to let them know how the meeting had gone.

**From Sebastian 21h46 **

_It went really well. Mike, I think that you can pop the champagne!_

* * *

Blaine groaned as he deleted another bit of his piece for the ad; he had been trying to complete that damn thing for hours. He felt exhausted and frustrated. As he was about to try one more time, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

"Not again," he muttered under his breath.

The musician took his phone out and opened the message. To his surprise, it was not from Kurt.

**From Sebastian 21h46 **

_It went really well. Mike, I think that you can pop the champagne! _

For a few second, Blaine felt bad that he had completely forgotten the meeting with Wethils was tonight. But he was glad that Sebastian believed it had gone well. They would celebrate all night and it would be the perfect distraction for Blaine. He needed to stop thinking about that stupid ad and this piece that was driving him up the wall. Being at the _Jazz_ would probably also allow him to find a new lover for the night. _Anyone would do to get his mind off Kurt_, he tried to convince himself. The other man had tried to contact him all day long but Blaine was stubborn and did not reply to any of his texts or calls.

The musician sighed. He would give himself another hour to work on the damn piece and then he would go to the bar and celebrate with his friends. If everything went well for them, he would not have to worry about his job and he would be too busy to think about anything (_or anyone_) else but performing. _Yes_, he thought to himself, _this would be perfect_.

**From Blaine 21h58**

_This is great news Seb! _J I just need to finish up a piece for work and then I'll come celebrate with all of you. Don't steal all the handsome ones ;)

* * *

"_Attention, laissez-moi passer!"_ the bartender said, as he frayed himself a path through the small crowd that had formed around the artists and musicians' booth. He was carrying another platter with more drinks. "_Felicitations les amis! Vous l'avez bien mérité!"_

"_Merci Charlie!_" Tina said, as she helped him with the drinks. "Wow, guys, round four is a go!" she shouted. Her friends and the people around her cheered and whooped.

"This is awesome!" Nick nearly yelled in Jeff's ear. The blonde man looked fondly at his boyfriend. He was such a lightweight.

"To all of our success to come!" Sebastian gave yet another toast. Blaine had lost count after the sixth one. His best friend had been celebrating a lot of things and most of them were not related to the show.

"To glory!" Mike joined in, clinking his glass with Sebastian's.

"To Rob's fine ass!" Sebastian added, smirking at one of the men near their booth.

"I think that's enough with the toasts now, boys," Tina said as she took their glasses and drank them. Both men glared in her direction and Blaine nearly fell off his seat from laughing so hard.

"Spoilsport!" Mike said to her and she shut him up with a languorous kiss.

Blaine and Jeff covered their ears to block the moaning sounds coming from their friends.

"Keep it PG!" Jeff yelled above the cheering noises all around them. The couple ignored him and kept on with the impromptu make out.

Sebastian had left the booth and was now flirting with Rob and some other really attractive French man.

For the first time of the day, Blaine felt completely relaxed. He was thoroughly enjoying the party and he was already pleasantly buzzed with alcohol.

He didn't notice when Tina went through his phone and read all of Kurt's texts.

"I am bored out of my mind; care to make me forget my name again?" Tina slurred loudly next to him. "Hey Blaine, looks like your lover boy is feeling horny."

Blaine nearly choked on his drink.

"What!? What the hell Tina, give me my phone!"

She held the device out of his reach and kept reading.

"Tina," he tried to sound threatening but wasn't really convincing, "Give me the phone."

"No," she kept scrolling through the messages. Then she smiled.

Blaine did not like this smile. It did not bode well and he knew she was up to no good. To his horror, he saw her starting to type a text to Kurt.

"No, Tina, don't…" But it was too late. She hit the send button and waited for a reply. It only took a few seconds for Kurt to answer the text.

Tina read out loud, "I have no idea who you are but I want to crash your party!" She giggled as she continued with the second part of the text. "Tell Blaine that I really want to fuck him right now or anything else he wants to do. As long as it gets me out of this boring place."

Blaine blushed a little at that. He did not know if he should feel excited or embarrassed. He turned to Jeff who was the only one in their group still practically sober. They exchanged looks silently ignoring the others. Blaine tried to make his friend understand not to mention the problem that Blaine had with Kurt. Well, the three problems actually. Jeff nodded, showing that he understood and wouldn't tell the others. Then, Tina threw the phone at Blaine who managed to catch it before it hit Nick in the face. The musician looked down at the sent message that Tina had just written.

**From Blaine 23h59:**

_You coukd just come crasch at mine Adress is 165 Bvd Foch._

Blaine did not know if he should be horrified about Tina's awful drunk texting skills or about the fact that Kurt agreed to hook up at Blaine's loft.

**From Kurt 00h00:**

_Be there in 20 mn tops!_

"Fuck," He muttered under his breath. He actually was not completely opposed to seeing Kurt again. They would be at his place, _with_ _no reminder of the kids there_, Blaine thought to himself.

He composed a reply to Kurt's text and then took off, leaving his friends to their own shenanigans.

**From Blaine 00h02:**

_Looking forward to it._

* * *

Kurt was waiting outside. The air was a bit cooler than expected for the middle of June. The young man sighed. He had spent his whole evening trying to convince his ex-husband to talk with various artists that Kurt thought were very promising. Marc had been insufferable. He complained about the venue, "Seriously Kurt, this place looks awful, who in their right mind would ever organize an event there?" And about the art pieces being exhibited, "You call that art? I see nothing but boring and unoriginal pieces here."

Kurt had been the one who had chosen the hotel, believing that a more neutral surrounding would allow the art pieces to be in the foreground. After all, people were supposed to come to discover new talents and admire their pieces. Then Marc had been rude to one of Kurt's protégés, indirectly insulting the young man's art. Kurt had wanted to leave but Marc insisted that he stay so he could be introduced to potential business partners. Santana was right; he was nothing but a trophy husband.

Now, he was sitting on a bench outside of the hotel, feeling bored and miserable. He checked his phone but he knew that it was in vain. Blaine had ignored him all day. Kurt tried to not let it get to him. After all, he had only met Blaine the day before and they knew next to nothing about each other. Well, that was not really true. Kurt knew that Blaine was a fantastic lover. He also suspected the other man was not the type to get attached in a relationship. And Kurt could not forget the terror in Blaine's eyes when Kurt had guided him out from under the bed after Sammy walked in on them. Kurt wondered how it was even possible to be afraid of children.

Kurt sighed again. He tried to think of a way to convince the other man to at least see him again. Then an idea came to him: they could hook up. Maybe if he only mentioned sex, Blaine would be more inclined to reply to him.

**From Kurt 23h56:**

_I am bored out of my mind; care to make me forget my name again?_

He hit 'send' and waited for a reply. He was surprised to see his phone light up with a new text only a minute later.

**From Blaine 23h57:**

_God you soooo HOTT! I haven't staped thinkin 'bout ya all day lon!_

Kurt read the message a couple of times wondering who the hell had answered. _It could not have been Blaine, could it?_ The guy had ignored him all day so writing that he'd been thinking of Kurt all day long did not make much sense. It must have been one of Blaine's friends, well he _assumed_ the guy had friends, and right now they were probably really drunk. That or Kurt would feel sorry for their horrible spelling and grammar.

After a few minutes of hesitation, he decided to play along. Who knows? Maybe this could be fun.

**From Kurt 23h59:**

_I have no idea who you are but I want to crash your party! Tell Blaine that I really want to fuck him right now or anything else he wants to do. As long as it gets me out of this boring place._

This time it only took a few seconds to get a new reply.

**From Blaine 23h59:**

_You coukd just come crasch at mine Adress is 165 Bvd Foch_

Kurt felt a rush of excitement all of sudden. He did not care if it was Blaine being drunk out of his mind or one of his friends; Kurt was going to Blaine's place tonight. Hooking up with the other man sounded like the perfect idea right now.

Kurt quickly typed a reply.

**From Kurt 00h00:**

_Be there in 20 mn tops!_

He stood up and called for a taxi. He felt his phone vibrate in his hand.

**From Blaine 00h02:**

_Looking forward to it._

Kurt smiled because he knew somehow that this time it had been Blaine answering the text.

* * *

"Ugh… Kurt…." Blaine moaned as waves of pleasure ran through his body, "Fuck!"

Kurt hummed around Blaine's cock and took him even deeper. He felt the head hit the back of his throat. Kurt's arm was trying to pin Blaine's waist to the bed so that he would not completely choke him with his dick.

"Please... Ku… Shit!"

Kurt's three fingers were thrusting in and out Blaine's entrance at an unforgiving pace making the man beneath him moan wantonly.

Kurt's mouth bobbed a couple more times along Blaine's shaft. He then sucked hard on the head, sliding the tip of his tongue on the slit, tasting the pre-come that had gathered there. He looked in Blaine's eyes and licked his lips.

"Fuck," Blaine uttered at the sight.

The musician spread his legs wider, invitingly. Kurt's fingers were still inside of him but he wanted, no, _needed_ more.

Kurt seemed to understand that. He removed his fingers, ignoring Blaine's whimper at feeling suddenly so empty and climbed off the bed to search one of the bedside tables for a condom.

"Kurt…"

"I'm coming." He positioned himself back between Blaine's spread legs and put the condom on his aching cock. He groaned at the contact; he had been left untouched for far too long. Kurt leaned over Blaine's body and guided his length to the stretched hole. He pushed inside in one thrust, and they both moaned loudly at that.

"Urgh Blaine… you feel…" He willed himself not to move yet, waiting for both of them to be adjusted to the sensation. "Fuck." He reached for Blaine's hand and tangled their fingers together.

They both remained silent for a moment, only their heavy breathing breaking the silence of the room. Their eyes met and held. This felt so intimate. For the first time in years, Blaine felt vulnerable under another man's gaze. Kurt's mouth was slightly opened in awe at how beautiful the musician looked, his eyes shining and his lips swollen from their kissing. Blaine squirmed under Kurt's gaze, now knowing how to respond to such raw adoration. His movement shook Kurt out of it, releasing his hold on Blaine's fingers and guiding his hands to the other man's waist instead. Blaine felt an unexplainable sense of loss and disappointment as the connection between them broke so abruptly.

Blaine had no time to form any kind of protest though, because Kurt started moving inside of him, filling him just the way he needed. Kurt began thrusting at a slow pace at first. He wanted to make this last for as long as humanly possible. But he was already so close…

"Kurt… please," Blaine whimpered, pressing the heels of his feet into Kurt's ass to guide him even deeper. "I need…"

"Shh," Kurt took hold of Blaine's face, letting his finger stroke gently along his stubble jaw. He then lent down for a sloppy kiss, swallowing Blaine's keening sounds.

Kurt took his time, keeping his pace measured for a few more minutes. But Blaine's desperate moans grew louder and he finally gave into the pure rush of desire, allowing it to take over his body.

"Fuck!" Blaine shouted, as Kurt's cock hit his prostate repeatedly.

"Shit Blaine, I'm going to…"

Blaine reached for Kurt and crashed their lips together, their teeth clashing in a hungry kiss. He felt Kurt starting to tremble. Blaine ran his fingers through Kurt's sweaty hair, his fingers lingering to the back of his head until they reached the soft clammy skin of Kurt's neck.

Kurt thrusted a few more times, reaching for Blaine's cock and stroking him to orgasm.

Blaine broke their kiss and bit at the junction of Kurt's neck and shoulder. He came, covering both their stomachs with white sticky streaks. Kurt followed after only a few more erratic thrusts.

Kurt fell on top of Blaine, nearly crushing him.

After a moment, Blaine removed him gently, wincing a little as Kurt's cock slid out of his hole, and maneuvered Kurt to lie down beside him.

Kurt clung to Blaine, huddling as close as possible. It was as if he was trying to go under Blaine's skin. He wanted to stay there for a while and forget about everything else.

"Kurt?" Blaine's tone was gentle, if a bit breathless, "Are you okay?"

"Mhmm," Kurt hummed against Blaine's sweaty chest. His fingers were drawing lazy pattern on Blaine's sticky stomach.

Had it been with anyone else, Blaine would have found this a little strange, but with Kurt, it felt awfully intimate and it scared him. It was just like the short moment they had shared earlier. The way he had felt so connected to the other man while their gaze had met, their fingers intertwined. Blaine had not known how to react to such a feeling of closeness and even familiarity. He had no idea what it meant and he was not sure he wanted to know.

He pulled the covers on top of them and just tightened his hold on Kurt. He could think about the meaning of all this the next day. For now, he would just lie there and enjoy being close to this other man who kept shaking things in his life.

* * *

_Le ciel bleu sur nous peut s'effondrer_

_Et la terre peut bien s'écrouler_

_Peu m'importe si tu m'aimes_

_Je me fous du monde entier_

_Tant qu'l'amour inondera mes matins_

_Tant que mon corps frémira sous tes mains_

Kurt fluttered his eyes open at the sound of a feminine voice coming from below. He frowned; _does Blaine have a beard on top of disliking children now?_Kurt sat up, ignoring Blaine's groan at the loss of contact. The musician had been using him as a pillow for a good part of the night. Kurt stood up and walked to the banister to see who was singing.

_Si tu me le demandais_

_J'irais décrocher la lune_

_J'irais voler la fortune_

_Si tu me le demandais_

Kurt could see the woman unloading some bags on the kitchen table. She kept singing, probably believing she was alone. On a better look, Kurt could guess that she was in her fifties. _Definitely not a beard then, or did Blaine hook up with cougars?_ Kurt shuddered at the thought. No, there had to be a better explanation to the presence of the woman. She could be an older friend or a member of Blaine's family.

Kurt heard Blaine groaning again. He turned to look at the still sleepy man.

"Hi", Kurt said softly, forgetting about the singing woman. Blaine's hair was sticking up adorably in all directions. Kurt could not help but smile at the sight.

"Nice view," Blaine said appreciatively. Kurt was still completely naked and a slight blush started to creep from his chest to his cheeks.

"Shut up," Kurt's tone was amused though.

He felt a warm tug at his heart at how domestic and familiar this felt. He and Blaine had shared a few of these moments the night before as well, especially when they had been cuddling for a large part of the evening. Blaine had woken Kurt during the night with kisses all over Kurt's chest and stomach. They had kissed for what had felt like hours until Kurt finally slid his cock back inside Blaine and they had rocked their bodies at a slow and languid pace. Kurt had not felt this connected to another person in years. After they had finished, Kurt could not deny that he was developing deep feelings for the other man. But he had not said anything for fears of not being taken seriously or being rejected.

Kurt snapped back to the present as Blaine suddenly sat up and a look of horror passed through his face.

"Mum?!" he called, his voice still thick from sleep.

The singing stopped and sounds of footsteps coming near the staircase were heard.

"That was you mother?" Kurt asked quietly. He reached for his pants and started to dress as fast as he could as the steps came closer.

"Sorry about that," Blaine apologized. He climbed off the bed and helped Kurt retrieve his clothes.

"What time is it?" Kurt said, suddenly aware of how bright it was already.

"Erm, let me see," Blaine answered as he searched for his phone. Blaine owned neither a watch nor an alarm clock. He usually slept in.

Kurt did not have time to wait though. He looked at his own phone and cursed in French, "_Putain!_" It was nearly ten o'clock. He had an important meeting with Erica, one of his colleagues and a friend, scheduled in twenty minutes. He would never make it on time. He took his shirt from Blaine's hand and quickly put it on. He ran down the stairs, barely avoiding knocking into Blaine's mother on his way. He tripped on the third to the last step and fell in a loud crash.

"Oh my God! Kurt! Are you alright?" Blaine's voice was filled with concern as he ran to Kurt. The other man had already stood back up and was now descending the rest of the steps.

"I really have to go, Blaine. I'll call you," he said apologetically and ran out of the loft.

Throughout this, Charlotte had been watching the two men with an amused expression.

Blaine was still standing in the spot where Kurt had fallen. He looked completely dazed for a few seconds.

"Honey, who was that?" Charlotte walked to him and led him to the kitchen. It was obvious that her son had just woken up and needed a good cup of coffee.

Blaine did not reply. He allowed his mother to make him sit at the table. He did not even notice that she had prepared him some coffee. He brought his mug to his mouth and took a sip, burning his tongue because it was scalding hot. He winced as he laid the mug back on the table.

"So, sweetheart, will you tell me who that handsome man was?" his mother asked him again.

Blaine groaned and buried his head in his hands. His mother getting curious about Kurt was the last thing he needed now.

"Blaine?" she said, her tone a bit amused.

Her son muttered something in his hand. She could not quite make out what it was but she was sure that there was some swearing in there. She sighed. She had a right to be curious.

"His name is Kurt," Blaine finally gave in. "He's… I don't really know. I only met him a couple days ago."

"But you like him." She looked at him, a knowing smile tugging at her lips. For a moment, Blaine could not help thinking about the song from _Tangled_, "Mother Knows Best."

"I…" he started, but he knew that denying it was not an option. His mother would not be fooled. "I'm not really sure yet."

"Well, then I suggest that you find out. You could ask him on a date," she suggested.

"I… no, I can't do that. I have other things to focus on." Blaine avoided looking in Charlotte's eyes. "I just… It's fun but there's nothing there."

"Oh sweetheart, I doubt that." She took his hand in hers and lifted his chin with her other so that he would look in her eyes as she kept speaking. "See, when he fell earlier, I heard the concern in your voice. You already care about him Blaine. Don't even try to deny it."

"It's complicated," Blaine sighed, as she let go of his face.

"It's only complicated if you make it out to be, Honey. Whatever the issue is, I'm sure you can see past it." She leaned over the table to lay a kiss on his cheek. "Now, you just think about it and ask yourself if, for once, taking a risk wouldn't be worth it."

She stood up and cleared the rest of the shopping bags. Blaine followed her with his eyes as she put everything in the fridge and cupboards. He didn't know what to think anymore. His mother had seen right through him and she was right. He did like Kurt. He did not know the extent of those feelings for the other man yet, but he could not deny that they were there. But that didn't change anything, did it? Kurt still had children and Blaine was still completely anti-children. Even if they had undeniable chemistry, there was nowhere happy this could lead to.

_To be continued..._

* * *

Translations / Notes:

: 'Mr' is the French abreviation for 'Monsieur'. The character is French hence the French form hereFor the texts, the time format is the French one, we have 24 hours instead of having two groups of ten like in Engkand (am and pm). From 1 h to 12 h it's the morning, from 12 h to 17 h, it's the afternoon and from 17 h to 00h00 it's the evening/night

"_Attention, laissez-moi passer!"_ : Watch out, let me through!

"_Felicitations les amis! Vous l'avez bien mérité!" : _Congratulations my friends, you really deserved this!

"_Merci Charlie!_" : Thank you Charlie!

The song lyrics in the last part of the chapter are from 'L'Hymne A L'Amour' by Edith Piaff. Charlotte loves her music and you may see her sing another of the singer's classics in later chapters.

'Putain': Fuck. Literally, it means whore but it's a curse that is used in so many situations that you don't really think of the literal translation anymore.


	6. Chapter Five

**_Hello!_**

**_I'm sorry that it took longer than expected for this chapter. I'm not sure I can actually keep to a deadline… I have already started on chapter 6 and I still have a clear view of where I'm going with the story so don't worry, it won't be abandoned._**

**_I also want to take the time to thank those who read and also the ones who take the time to write comments. I really appreciate it and I'm happy that some of you seem to really enjoy the story. It's a real pleasure writing it for me._**

**_Thank you also to my wonderful beta without whom I wouldn't get everything right in terms of coherency sometimes and of course, since I'm French, she helps me a lot for vocabulary, grammar and phrasing. So take the time to thank her here if you wish: just-another-pipeddreamer . tumblr . com_**

**_About this chapter, some new characters are introduced (one OC and one canon), Marc is back and we get to lear a little more about him. Charlotte is also in the chapter again :)_**

**_I hope you'll enjoy reading ^^_**

**_Cynthia :)_**

* * *

Kurt hurried up the stairs. He was already ten minutes late. He cursed under his breath as he climbed the last steps to the third floor where Marc's office was. He had run out of luck when he arrived at the building and noticed that the elevators were all out of service…

As he finally reached the corridor, he nearly bumped into someone else. He had no time to even apologize to whoever it was, before the other man spoke.

"Look where you're going Kurt," the man said in reproaching tone. "Also, you're nearly fifteen minutes late."

Kurt groaned internally as he looked up. It was Richard, Marc's best friend and also the man who never failed to remind Kurt how much he despised him. Of course, Richard never said anything when in Marc's presence. He knew that his best friend still held Kurt in high esteem and that Marc would not take kindly any of the insults that Richard always made toward the other man. Kurt, of course, was perfectly aware of how Richard felt about him and the feeling was mutual.

"I'm sorry, the boys gave me some trouble last night and…" Kurt started, a bit out of breath from running up all those stairs.

"No need to pretend with me Kurt," Richard sneered at him. "I know perfectly well that this is not the reason you're late. Also, if I were you, I wouldn't remain chatting in the corridors with me. It's not that I don't like your company," he smiled, his eyes filled with contempt, "but the clock is ticking."

Kurt did not reply. He stayed there for another minute watching Richard walk away. Not for the first time, the young man felt a bit paranoid. He had suspected for a long time that Marc asked Richard to spy on him. Of course, his ex-husband had denied doing anything of the sort but Kurt could not let go of his suspicions.

He shook himself out of his thoughts and walked to the door to Marc's office. He knocked three times and then pushed the door open.

"Hello Kurt," Marc said in greeting, his tone a bit too overjoyed. "It's good to see you gracing us with your presence." His eyes were cold and his smile frozen on his face.

Kurt did not let this faze him.

"I'm really sorry for being so late. I had some trouble of a personal nature this morning," he explained in a confident tone.

"Of course," Marc answered. "Please take a seat."

Kurt walked over to the chair next to his colleague Erica, purposefully avoiding the empty seat next to his ex-husband.

The meeting resumed as if there had been no interruption. Marc proceeded to show a short clip for an advertisement for a new brand of yogurt.

Kurt tried not to yawn. He was exhausted. The previous night had been wonderful but he did not sleep much and paying attention was proving to be a bit difficult. He also was a bit confused as to why his and Erica's presence had been requested for this meeting. His friend seemed to share this thought.

"We have henceforth agreed to use the piece that Mr. Anderson has written for the advertisement," Marc concluded.

"Yes, I find the piece has a good rhythm and a playful theme to it. It will be perfect for the segment of consumers that we're aiming at," Melle Weber said in an enthusiastic tone, her English a bit rough. "J'adore le côté enfantin du morceau, le rythme ainsi que les paroles qui sont très simples à retenir. J'entends déjà les enfants le chanter à tue-tête dans la cour de récréation. " She turned to expound her points to her associate who did not understand English very well.

This concluded their meeting. Marc walked Melle Weber and Mr. Gérard to the door, thanking them for their trust in this project. Kurt and Erica remained seated waiting to see if their superior had something else to add for them.

Marc returned to his seat and opened a file. He handed a sheet of paper to Erica who took it and started to read what it was. Kurt tried to look over her shoulder but her hand was covering half of the text on the page.

"This is Mr. Anderson's details. He has not been working with us for very long. He's started with an internship in Mr. Clarck's service. The latter recently found out that Mr. Anderson is a musician and so he involved him in some of our new projects, starting with the ad that you've just watched."

Kurt was a bit confused as to why Marc was saying this to Erica and himself. He hardly saw the point of their presence had been requested for this meeting. He sighed and waited to see where his ex was going with this.

"You're probably wondering why I'm even telling you this," Marc looked at them, both nodding in unison. "Kurt, you're always looking for new talent to promote and Erica, you're a pearl when it comes to finding contacts in the business. So, this young man," he pointed at the sheet that was still in Erica's grasp, "is really talented from what Thad has told me. Of course, I did not want to be too kind to Mr. Anderson when he presented his first draft for the piece in the ad. I hate when artists get arrogant or overconfident."

Kurt was still a bit confused but Erica started to show interested in what Marc was saying, so he kept his mouth shut and waited to hear more.

"You don't know this yet Kurt, but I've assigned Erica to contacts with film companies. We have a great opportunity to take part in the French independent film festival in November. It is not official yet and I haven't given them an answer so far, but they are proposing ten short films for which they are looking for new talents to compose the soundtrack. Thad has suggested that Mr. Anderson should be one of them and represent our company. Of course, we haven't seen much of what he can do so far, so I was thinking of organizing an event to introduce him to the public. We are going to assign another project to Mr. Anderson and see how he'll manage. In the meantime, Erica, I want you to get familiar with his file and maybe see if you can find out anything about him and other projects he's been part of outside of the company."

"Very well," Erica replied, filing the information sheet in her attaché-case.

"What am I supposed to do?" Kurt asked Marc, pressing for more details.

"For now, nothing. I'll let you know if this musician fits our needs for this project. As soon as we know, I'll have you organize the event. I'll leave you the choice as to how you want to do it, but my idea would be to organize a private concert and invite some of our partners and clients."

Kurt nodded in acknowledgment. For now, he had no need to worry about it. After all, there was no guarantee yet that he'll have to do anything. Still, he was a bit excited at the prospect of working with a new talent. And if the musician had even caught Marc's attention, then he must be quite good. His ex-husband was really difficult to impress.

Erica gathered her things and walked out the office. Kurt meant to follow her but Marc called him back.

"Is everything alright Kurt?" the other man asked, concern in his voice.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just a bit tired," Kurt answered with a weak smile.

"I saw you leaving early last night. Was there something wrong with the boys?"

"No, they're both fine. Carole looked after them and Clara last night. I was just feeling a bit under the weather, but I'm fine now."

"OK," Marc nodded with a smile. "You do know that you can tell me if you're seeing someone Kurt, right?"

Kurt sighed. He did not like it when Marc asked about his love life. It always felt like his ex-husband was intruding. Kurt never asked about Marc's lovers or boyfriends.

"I'm not. I have to go now," Kurt answered, his tone indicating that this conversation was over.

Marc remained silent as he watched the other man leave his office. He did not believe Kurt and would make sure to ask Richard if he knew anything.

* * *

"Mum," Blaine groaned, as he noticed that she was still in his loft, "Don't you have anywhere else to be?"

Charlotte looked up from the magazine that she was reading. She smiled innocently, mumbling something about boring Wednesdays and having nothing to do.

"Well, I have things to work on and I'd prefer it if you left so I could concentrate."

"That's not true, honey. I know from Thad himself that you've completed your work already. He was very happy with the piece by the way," she grinned up at him and flicked another page in her magazine.

Blaine hated that Thad and his mother got on so well. He could never use work as an excuse to make her leave. Thad told her everything about what Blaine did. On the other hand, it was also a good thing because he could find out beforehand if Thad was satisfied with his work. That way he could anticipate those unpleasant meetings in Thad's office.

"Fine, you can stay, whatever," he said and climbed up to his room. He was still tired and if he could catch a few hours of sleep before his meeting with Thad that afternoon then he would do just that.

His mother followed him upstairs and sat next to him on the bed.

Looks like Blaine was not getting any sleep then.

"Mum," he whined.

"Oh, don't 'Mum' me, Blaine. You don't need to nap, it's nearly noon and if you fall asleep now then you'll skip your meal and then you'll feel all dizzy at your meeting." She started to play with his curls as he lay on his stomach, his face buried in the pillows.

He tried to protest but his mother ignored him.

"You know, I haven't seen you look at another man the way you did Kurt in a long time. I think the last time was with Gregory and even then I knew that it wouldn't last with you two. Not that I hoped I was right. After all he did make you make you happy for a long time. It's sad that you gave up on him."

Blaine groaned in the pillows. _Not again_, he thought to himself. He was not in the mood for an emotional talk about love and lost opportunities. He hated how his mother's timing was always so bad for that kind of conversation. He was nowhere near ready to even consider what he had with Kurt as a possible relationship. They were just having fun for now. Besides, he could not forget about the three children. Of course, he could never tell Charlotte about them. He would never hear the end of it. His mother always managed to remind Cooper and him how she wanted to become a grandma. If he mentioned that Kurt had children, she would be unstoppable in trying to get them together, be boyfriends and then quickly married. No, he really could not tell her. So he settled with letting her talk about all the things that crossed her mind and made a few noise of acknowledgment, pretending that he was listening.

* * *

It was still early when Kurt came home from work. The boys and Clara were still at Carole's; she would bring them home in a couple of hours allowing Kurt to enjoy a moment of calm. He decided to call his best friend Noah. The two had not talk in over a week and now was as good a moment as any to chat with his friend.

Kurt speed-dialed Noah and waited for him to pick up.

"Hey Kurt, how's it going?" the warm tone of his friend greeted him.

"Hi Noah, are you busy?" Kurt asked, wanting to make sure that they'd have time to really talk.

"Nah, I'm fine for now. Quinn's gone with Beth to do some shopping for school. They should be back in a couple of hours. I'm a free man 'til then."

Kurt chuckled softly.

"That's good because there was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Is everything alright?" Noah immediately asked, feeling a surge of concern at Kurt's hesitant tone.

"Yeah, I'm good, don't worry. It's just," he took a deep breath and then continued, "I met this guy the other day, his name's Blaine. We really hit it off and we've seen each other twice now but there's something that is clearly bothering him."

"When you say 'seeing each other,' I don't suppose you went on dates, am I wrong?" Noah's smirk was audible in Kurt's ear.

"You know me too well Noah," Kurt sighed, with a small smile tugging at his lips. "But you wouldn't blame me if you saw the guy or got to fuck him."

"Sure, whatever," Noah said not even fazed with the images of his best friend having sex with some kind of hot stud invading his mind. "So, what's his deal then?" he asked after a few seconds of silence on Kurt's end.

"I don't think he likes children," Kurt sighed. "I mean, I know from what I've seen, that he seems to be scared of them."

"Scared?" Noah asked, stopping himself from laughing. It was clear that this was important to Kurt and mocking a potential boyfriend was not the thing to do right now.

"I don't know, he's just weird with them," Kurt said frustrated. "The other night, Sammy walked in on us. I may not have had the best reaction either while I threw him out of the bed but, well, what was I supposed to do?" Kurt did not give Noah anytime to respond. "But, the look on his face when I tugged him from under the bed. He looked so terrified; it was ridiculous. The more I think about it, the less I can understand how you can have such a reaction to a child." Kurt breathed deeply then continued, "Then, I took him to the boy's room to show him Simon, and then to Clara's. He then left, literally running out of the apartment."

"Kurt, can you blame him?" Noah asked, his tone gentle. He did not want to sound like he was judging his friend but he could also understand the guy's reaction. "Was that the first time you two hooked up?"

"Yeah. We had met that morning." Kurt remained silent after that, waiting to hear what his friend would say.

"Look, Kurt, I don't want to say that the dude was right to leave like that, but this was your first time together. You barely knew each other. Do you honestly believe that any guy would have reacted differently if you had introduced them to your three kids after having mind-blowing sex?"

Noah had a point. It had been ridiculous of Kurt to hope that telling Blaine about his children would go any different than it had.

"You're right," he sighed in the phone.

"Do you remember that time I left the country for an entire weekend after Quinn told me she was pregnant? And I had been with her for almost two years back then. But the idea of having a kid with her really scared me and I had to run. I can't really say that the situation is the same for you and Blaine, but I think that you should talk with him about this if you really want to try having a relationship with him. You don't even know the guy, Kurt."

"Listen to you, Noah," Kurt laughed, "If your younger self heard you right now, he would cry with laughter."

"Shut up, smartass," Noah said, also chuckling. "You know I'm right though."

"Of course you are," Kurt tried to stop laughing. He took a deep breath and composed himself. "I'll ask him out on a date. Fucking is great but, you're right, if I want to try a relationship with Blaine, I'd better try to get to know him first."

"You'll totally have to tell Quinn that I gave some wise piece of advice for once," Noah said, his tone smug.

"I'm not sure she would believe me," Kurt teased him.

"Yeah, whatever," Noah smiled softly. "By the way, I'm coming down by the end of next week. I promised Beth that we would get to see the Eiffel tower now that she's old enough to climb all the stairs. I'm telling you, her obsession with that stupid tower is unbelievable," he added fondly. "You could come with us, you, the kids and Blaine maybe, what do you think?"

"Sure, I bet the boys would love that, but I'm not sure if Clara will be there. Paolo is supposed take her with him to visit his parents this month. He'll tell me tomorrow when exactly. As for Blaine…" Kurt left the rest unsaid. He had no idea if there were any chance of the musician being willing to go with them and the children.

"You'll let me know, alright?" Noah said, breaking the silence.

"Sure. I'd better go now. I still have to cook some dinner."

"Okay, well, you know you can call me anytime if you need to talk, right?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know this guy yet but I feel that you already like him so '_Be careful_…'"

"'…_This sad world is filled with jerks_.' I know, Honey, no need to remind me," Kurt sighed.

"I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I know Noah, don't worry."

"Okay then, I'll leave you to your cooking. Love you!"

"Bye, I love you too!"

Kurt laid the phone on the table and leaned down on the sofa for a few minutes. He already felt a bit better now that he had talked with Noah about Blaine. He knew that no matter what happened, Kurt still had people who loved him and cared for him. If Blaine turned out to be a jerk, then Kurt would move on, as he always had.

* * *

Later that night, with the children already in bed, Kurt was watching some nonsensical reality show that he was barely paying attention to when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the messagealert. It was a text from Blaine.

**From Blaine 22h56**

_I just wanted to say that I had a wonderful time last night. I wanted to apologize for the abrupt way we had to part this morning and also, I'm really sorry you were woken up by my mom's singing. I would totally understand if you'd never want to come over on Tuesday nights again (she's coming every Wednesday mornings; it had completely slipped out my mind…)._

Kurt laughed softly as he read the text a few times. After a few seconds, his phone vibrated again signaling another text.

**From Blaine: 22h59**

_I'm also sorry I did not contact you today. I wanted to, but my mother stayed the whole morning, then I had a meeting at work and then some stuff to deal with for a project from a friend. It's just been a really busy day. I know that I had been ignoring you before last night and I'm sorry for that too._

Kurt wanted to call him but he was not sure if it was a good idea. He did not have time to decide before he received another text.

**From Blaine 23h02**

_I also would love to see you again. I don't know when you're available so let me know._

_B._

That was it. Kurt would call him and they would talk and hopefully things would be a bit clearer afterwards.

He dialed the number and waited a few seconds for the other man to pick up.

"Kurt?" Blaine said, in a confused tone.

"Hi, I got your texts," Kurt said simply. "I would love to see you again, too."

"Oh," Blaine said, a small smile tugging at his lips. He was not sure what he had expected but this was definitely better.

"I mean, if you still want to," Kurt added, his tone growing a bit hesitant.

"I want to," Blaine breathed in the phone. "I really do," he added more confidently.

"Good. Then I'll let you know."

"Okay."

"Would going on a date be too much for you?" Kurt needed to make sure first. He was not sure if he could bear a rejection. Noah had been right, he already liked Blaine more than he should at this point in their not-yet-relationship.

"Erm," Blaine hesitated. His mother's words from that morning came back to him: '_you should ask him on a date.'_ He swallowed and hoped that Kurt was still on the other end and had not hung up on him during his silence. "Erm, sure, why not?" He hoped that his slight fear was not transparent in his tone.

"Great," Kurt sighed in relief then he scolded himself for getting too excited already. It was just a date, nothing more. "I'll call you tomorrow morning so we can decide of a time to meet up. Is that alright with you?"

"Perfect," Blaine smiled.

"Okay then, I have to go now," Kurt said a bit regretfully. "I'll talk to you soon."

"Yeah, bye Kurt. Have a good night."

"Thank you and you too. Bye."

Kurt hung up and held the phone close to his heart. He could not help it. He was excited for what this could become between the two of them and he indulged himself a minute just reveling in the feeling.

On his bed, Blaine was in a similar position, his phone held tight to his chest. He closed his eyes and a soft smile remained on his face as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

To be continued...

* * *

**Chapter Notes / Translations**

Melle Weber : 'Melle' is short for 'Mademoiselle' which means Miss

Mr Weber: 'Mr' is short for Mosieur which means Mister.

Melle Weber and Mr Weber are both French clients hence why I used the French forms for Miss and Mister. The same goes for Thad Clarcks.

"J'adore le côté enfantin du morceau, le rythme ainsi que les paroles qui sont très simples à retenir. J'entends déjà les enfants le chanter à tue-tête dans la cour de récréation. " : 'I love how childlike it sounds, the rhythm and the lyrics are really easy to remember. I can alreay hear children singing the tune during recess."

French independent film festival in November: this is completely fake and I only created to serve the plot for one of the storyllines.

Kurt and Noah have been best friends since childhood. Here's the backstory I have imagined for them: embrace-is-love . tumblr post/31539116004


	7. Chapter Six

**_Hello,_**

**_Little warning about this chapter: Mention of the death of a canon character (you're going to hate me…) antwo OCs (technically Kurt's mother isn't really a OC but she's still my version in this story so I'll say OC for her too)_**

**_I know that the previous chapter did not have much about Kurt and Blaine in it but you should be pleased with this one because it's their date. I had fun writing the opening scenes of this chapter._**

**_Once again, I want to say thank you to my beta just-another-pipeddreamer . tumblr . com, for always being so helpful and supportive all along. I think that we really are starting to see things similarly when it comes to writing the story. It's good to know that she feels enthusiastic about the story. _**

**_I have reached the point where the characters are starting to take over and it feels more and more like I'm only inspiring myself from the movie for some plot elements, but the characters are coming to life in a way. I really enjoy writing this fiction. It hasn't happen in a long time and I'm feeling optimistic as to how it'll go until the end. _**

**_Thank you to the readers who take the time to leave review or ratings, I really appreciate it._**

**_Okay, I'll let you read now J_**

**_Enjoy._**

**_Cynthia _**

* * *

To say that Blaine was nervous would have been an understatement. Blaine was a wreck.

"Calm down man! It's just a date. You can't possibly tell me you're nervous?" Jeff teased his friend who was still battling with his wardrobe, on a quest to find the right shirt to wear. "You should go with the black one, casual but not too much."

Blaine groaned in response. He came out of his closet with a light green shirt in one hand and a dark blue one in the other.

"Which one?" he asked, ignoring his friend's earlier suggestion. "I think the green one is more me. I've only worn that blue once at some family gathering last year but it's probably a bit over the top, right?"

Jeff took his time to weigh the options and then agreed that Blaine should put on the green shirt.

"Okay," Blaine said and headed for the bathroom to change.

"What time does he come pick you up?" Jeff asked for the second time that evening.

"He said half past eight-ish so I still have…" He paused to check his watch. "Crap! He's coming in less than thirty minutes. Shit!"

"Relax, you have plenty of time."

Blaine's only answer was a shout and then swearing because he had managed to hit his toe on the side of the bathtub while he put on his pants.

"You're okay in there? Need some help?" Jeff tried not to laugh. He just found it hilarious every time his friend turned into a nervous wreck. This also gave him some hope for the possibility of a relationship between Kurt and Blaine. The musician was almost never nervous, apart from job interviews, like any other person, and meeting with parents of friends. He was always so at ease with the guys he picked at the bars. He did not worry about rejections because he knew that he was hot and that other men would say yes to his advance. Also, most of the time, they came to him. So Jeff had never seen Blaine nervous with other men. Then again, Jeff did not remember much about the beginning of Blaine's relationship with Gregory. He didn't see Blaine often back then so he had missed these earlier stages.

Blaine's phone vibrated on the bedside table. Jeff walked to it and saw that there was a new message from Kurt. He itched to open it and read what it said but he knew that it was only meant for Blaine's eyes. He refrained and instead took the phone and walked to the bathroom door. He knocked gently and asked if he could come in.

"Sure, I'm nearly done," came his friend's voice from the other side.

Jeff entered the room and handed the phone to the other man.

"Kurt sent you a text," he explained and waited to see if Blaine would read out loud.

'_Curiosity killed the cat_' Nick always told him, but Jeff couldn't help himself. And when it was apparent that Blaine would not reveal the content of Kurt's text, Jeff leaned closer to his friend and tried to read over his shoulder.

Blaine raised his eyes to his friend in question. Jeff only smiled innocently.

"I'm not going to let you see what he wrote to me, Jeff, so you can get out and leave me to finish getting ready."

"You're no fun, Blaine," Jeff mumbled as he went back to the bedroom and waited for his friend to be done.

Blaine laughed at his friend's disappointment. The text was not that interesting. It was just Kurt informing him that he'd be there in around twenty minutes and an apology because he would arrive a bit later than expected.

* * *

Kurt was glad that Marie had finally arrived. He had started to worry that she would call him to say she couldn't come look after the children. The young student had two exams the following afternoon and he was lucky that she had agreed to come in the first place.

"I'm sorry for being late, Kurt, I lost track of the time and then my car wouldn't start and so I had to take my mum's and well, let's just say that I'm not used to driving her vehicle," she explained in a rush as Kurt took her jacket and led her inside.

"Don't worry about it, Marie, it's fine." They both walked in the kitchen. "Sammy already had his bath and he's in bed. I'm not sure if he's asleep yet. I'll check on him right before leaving. You know Simon's bedtime; right now he's reading in the living room. Clara is currently busy with homework but she can manage on her own."

"Breathe, Kurt," Marie said to him gently. "I know the drill, it's not like it's the first time," she laughed softly, "and you can stop worrying right now, okay?"

"You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just a bit nervous," he sighed, "I haven't been on a proper date in so long."

"Oh," Marie smiled in sympathy, "I can't say I know the feeling. Elisa and I have been together for nearly two years now, and so dating is really easy for us."

"You're lucky," Kurt said.

"Yes, we are. But you shouldn't be so nervous Kurt, you're a great catch and whoever this man is, he's really lucky tonight."

"Thanks." Kurt stood up and went to check on Sammy one more time.

When he returned, Marie and Simon were talking animatedly about the book that lay on the boy's lap.

"Marie, I'll be out until eleven. Ring Paolo if I'm not home by then. He'll look after the children until I get back. I know he was a jerk last time. But don't worry," Kurt reassured her, "I already let him know about it so you won't be bothering him."

"Alright, have a good evening Kurt." Marie stood up and walked with him towards the front door.

"Thank you, Marie. Call me if there's any problem, okay?"

"Will do." She ushered him out of the apartment before he could think of anything else and be late for his date.

* * *

It took another ten minutes for Blaine to be satisfied with how he looked. It was strange being so nervous to meet up with another man. The musician never had this sort of problem, but with Kurt it was different. He was worried he would disappoint him and he had already screwed up a bit on their first night. Still, another part of him remembered that the first time he had met Kurt he was completely drenched and driving his poor excuse of a car, yet Kurt had still fallen for his charm and kissed him breathless afterwards. With that thought in mind, he walked out the bathroom feeling a bit less nervous.

"You ready?" Jeff asked from his spot on the still unmade bed.

"What are you still doing here?" Blaine narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"Well, I want to meet the guy, so I figured I'd stay and see what he looks like." Jeff stood up and walked to his friend. He started fixing the collar on Blaine's shirt, ignoring the glare Blaine had sent in his direction. "You know, I need to do the 'friend approval test' and all that."

"No way," Blaine protested, freeing himself from his friend's grasp. "You are not staying until he arrives. In fact, you are leaving right now." He pushed his friend out of the room as he said this and walked him down the stairs.

They had nearly reached the front door when the bell rang.

"Shit!" Blaine muttered under his breath.

He walked to the window and saw a black cab parked in the street. The cab's rear door on the far side was open and Kurt was out, walking a bit backward to look up at the windows of Blaine's loft. He smiled when he saw Blaine peering through the curtains.

"Alright." Blaine walked to his friend and sat him on a chair. "You're staying here and when I'm gone, you'll use your spare key and lock up after you leave, understood?"

Jeff nodded. He had no intention of doing what Blaine told him though. He would not miss a chance to see what Kurt looked like. But he knew that if he pretended, Blaine would leave and not think twice about him disobeying.

Blaine checked his pockets for his phone, wallet and keys, and then he grabbed his jacket and walked out.

Jeff waited to hear the sound of the main door of the building closing before leaping off the chair and going to the window. He pushed the curtains apart just enough so he could see the two men greeting each other on the sidewalk.

"Hi," Kurt smiled, as Blaine descended the steps and walked to him.

"Hey, sorry for making you wait outside," Blaine apologized and then leant to peck Kurt's cheek softly.

"It's alright," Kurt replied, his cheeks flushing a little under the touch of Blaine's lips. "I'm sorry for being a bit later than what I'd said."

"It's fine, don't worry. We should get going though."

At that moment, Kurt caught sight of someone spying on them rather unsubtly. The blonde man hid when he saw Kurt looking in his direction.

"Is there someone in your loft?" Kurt asked, his voice suddenly tense.

Blaine frowned in confusion, then turned to where Kurt was looking and groaned.

"It's just Jeff, a friend of mine," he explained. His mind was already making up different ways he could get back at Jeff for not listening to him.

"Oh, I thought…" Kurt did not finish his sentence and laughed, feeling a surge of relief. "Well, you can tell your friend that his spying skills suck."

"I'll be sure to do that." The musician glared upward as he heard the sound of the widow opening above them.

"Hello there!" Jeff nearly shouted, his tone far too overjoyed.

"Hi!" Kurt answered him with a wave and a smile.

"So, you must be Kurt then."

"I must be." Kurt turned to Blaine who was still glowering in Jeff's direction. "Tell you what," Kurt said to the blonde man, "come down and we can be introduced properly."

"Kurt, what about our reservation at the restaurant?" Blaine asked, hoping to convince Kurt to just go. He really wasn't sure that Kurt and Jeff meeting was a good idea.

"I had an event at that restaurant once, they can't refuse me," Kurt replied in a confident tone.

"Fine." Blaine resigned himself.

It only took a minute for Jeff to meet them on the sidewalk. Blaine had spoken to the cab driver and told him to cut the engine for now.

"It's great to meet you, Kurt. Blaine has told me a lot about you." Jeff shook Kurt's hand with a huge grin, ignoring Blaine's glare toward him.

"Oh, really? What has he told you then?" Kurt asked, curious to know.

"Oh, well," Jeff stammered, he was not sure how much Kurt would appreciate it that Blaine had told him how good Kurt was in bed. _Nope, definitely not a good idea, better talk about something else_, he thought to himself. And mentioning Blaine's aversion for children was also out of the question. "Blaine told me about the way you both met. Man, that's movie material."

Kurt laughed at that. It was true, material for a very cheesy and cliché movie.

"Still, it can't beat how romantic my meeting with Nick was," Jeff added. "That's my boyfriend, in case you were wondering," he explained and then continued, "We were…"

"Jeff, we really don't have time for that story," Blaine interrupted him. "Not even for the abridged version," he added when he saw Jeff about to protest.

"He's right," the blonde man said apologetically to Kurt, "I've already kept you two too long."

"It's alright. It was nice meeting you Jeff," Kurt said. "And I really would love to hear that story some other time."

"Absolutely," Jeff answered with a grin. "Enjoy your evening." He waved them off as they climbed in the cab.

"I hope you didn't forget to lock the door when you left," Blaine quickly said to his friend just before Kurt pushed him into the seat and closed the door behind him.

Jeff ran back to Blaine's loft after they pulled away to check if the door was locked. It wasn't. _Blaine will never know_, he thought to himself as he used the spare key to lock up. He then called Nick and proceeded to tell him everything about his meeting with Kurt.

* * *

The restaurant was crowded when they arrived but fortunately, Kurt had managed to reserve a more private area for their date. The food was delicious and Blaine wasn't sure he could consider eating anything else for the rest of his life. Kurt laughed softly when the musician made that statement aloud.

"I'm serious Kurt, this is the best food I've ever had in my entire life."

"I'm happy you like it then." Kurt smiled fondly at the other man.

For a moment, Blaine lost his train of thought and stared; overcome by how bright and sparkling Kurt's eyes were. It reminded him of that moment under the rain when their gazes had met for the first time.

"Is everything alright?" Kurt asked after a minute of silence. He frowned, and added, "Is there something on my face?" He started touching his forehead and the top of his nose, looking for a smear of sauce or anything else that was causing Blaine to stare in that direction.

"No, you don't," Blaine said his voice soft and quiet. "Your eyes… they're just…", he struggled to find a word that could describe them but failed. Instead he came up with, "They're really beautiful, Kurt."

Kurt blushed and Blaine decided that it was a look that suited the other man.

"We should talk," Kurt cleared his throat, breaking the tension after another silent pause. At Blaine's slightly panicked look, he quickly added, "I mean, we're on a date and usually people talk about themselves. And I barely know anything about you, Blaine, so please tell me about yourself."

"There is not much to tell," Blaine started, "I'm single, 26, I've got a part time job in the entertainment industry and I'm also working on a project for a show with my best friend. I'm American, moved to Paris around 6 years ago because I got bored in New York and wanted to see the rest of the world. My mother was born in France so I thought I would start here. Then, I made some great new friends, found a job and fell in love with Montmartre. So I stayed longer than what I had initially planned. I did spend half a year in Florence, and three months in Germany, to visit family on my mother's side. But, I can't say I've travelled around the world yet."

"I haven't had the chance to travel much," Kurt said, regret clear in his tone. "I only had my year of internship in London while I was still in University. Other than that, I've been to Italy with my father, stepmother and stepbrother during high school. I was supposed to go to New York with a friend last year but my dad had another heart attack, the first one happened just after our trip to Italy, and this time he didn't make it. There was so much to do with the funeral, the forms to fill in, I just couldn't leave…" Kurt's voice broke a little. He took a sip of water and tried to talk again, but a lump had formed in his throat so he chose to remain silent for a moment.

Blaine did not know what to say. He thought of taking Kurt's hand in his and squeezing it for comfort but he was not sure he was ready for such a gesture yet. He still didn't know where they were going with this date.

"I'm really sorry, Kurt," he tried to sound comforting, "I lost my father when I was seventeen. Things had been tough with him the year before but for a few months before his death, we had almost felt like a family again. It happened right before one of his concerts, while sitting in the audience with my mother and older brother, waiting for the show to start."

"That's horrible," Kurt said, reaching for Blaine's hand.

The musician found himself not rejecting Kurt's comfort but actually craving more of his touch.

"My relationship with my father was complicated. He was accepting but also really demanding. Cooper, my brother, did not choose the path that my dad wanted for him. My father then turned all his expectations on me. He pushed me and more than once we fought about it. I just wanted him to support me in whatever choice I'd make for my career but he was really stubborn and insisted that I follow in his footsteps. I never admitted to him that I would have chosen music even if he had not forced it on me."

"I was lucky with my father. Having lost my mother so young, for a long time it was just him and me, you know," Kurt explained. "It was really difficult at first and some nights, I feared that he would leave me because he did not know how to take care of me. But he did a better job than any other parent I know. He always supported me, no matter my decisions or who I loved."

"He sounds like a wonderful man." Blaine squeezed Kurt hand gently.

"He was," Kurt replied, his eyes shiny with unshed tears. "I'm sorry," he apologized, reaching for a tissue in his pocket.

"It's alright."

"He was my rock," Kurt spoke again, after wiping his tears. "When he died, I was so scared that I would lose myself. If it weren't for Simon, Sammy and even Clara, I don't know how I would have dealt with the loss. It also made me understand how my father must have felt when he lost my mother. To know that these precious lives depend on me, that they needed me, pushed me to fight and stay strong for them."

Blaine averted his eyes from Kurt's gaze and focused on the dessert menu. He felt suddenly uneasy and wrong to be here with Kurt. Their fingers were now laced together and all he wanted was to run. _This had been a bad idea_.

"We should talk about something else," Kurt broke the awkward silence that had installed between them and removed his hand from Blaine's. He had felt the mood shifting abruptly after what he had said about the children. "Tell me more about this show of yours."

The rest of the date went well. The atmosphere had definitely changed but Blaine still had a good time with Kurt and he didn't refuse when the other man suggested that they'd go to Kurt's place.

When they were in the taxi, Kurt called someone in French to tell them that he was on his way home. Blaine didn't catch everything that Kurt said but he guessed that the other person must be a baby sitter.

"_Je serais là dans cinq minutes, si Clara est encore debout, alors elle peut les surveiller_. " There was a pause while the other person was talking. "_Oui, merci encore, bonne nuit_." Kurt hung up and leaned on Blaine's side for the rest of the drive. The musician, who was feeling a bit sleepy after the copious meal they'd had, did not shy away from Kurt's closeness. In fact, he found himself welcoming it, reveling in the warmth and comfort of the other man's body.

* * *

When they arrived at Kurt's door, they could hear noises coming from inside the apartment. Kurt unlocked the door and gestured for Blaine to follow him inside. He then walked at a fast pace towards the end of the corridor, where the other voices seemed to come from.

"_Mais tu n'es pas encore au lit toi?"_

Blaine joined Kurt in Clara's bedroom. On the bed, Sammy was looking up at Kurt, a book opened on his lap. Clara was pacing on the other side of the room, with her phone clutched to her ear. Kurt was trying to get her attention to ask why Sammy was not in bed yet, but she seemed too engrossed in her conversation. Kurt sighed and then walked to his son.

"_Tu devrai être au lit toi."_ He bopped him gently on the nose. He noticed then, that there were tear tracks on the little boy's cheeks and he was also rubbing his stomach with his left hand. Kurt removed the book from Sammy's lap and then took him in his arms and carried him over to Blaine. He handed the little boy to the musician who was too dumbstruck to react or protest.

"Can you please get him in my room and look after him while I solve whatever Clara's problem is, please?" Kurt asked Blaine who just nodded in response, too afraid to startle the little boy in his arms. "Thank you, I won't be long."

Blaine carried Sammy to the room and then laid him on the bed, or tried to do just that. It was a bit difficult when the hand of the little boy was clutching at his shirt with such a firm grip. For a moment, Blaine had no idea what he should do. The boy had fallen asleep in his arms on the way to the room. He did not want to wake him. Fortunately, Sammy's fingers opened and released the fabric allowing Blaine to free himself and lay the little boy above the covers. As he did, Sammy made a slight cough noise in his sleep. Blaine stared, frozen in place, too afraid to move. Then the little boy opened his eyes and they widened in surprise and maybe shock when they landed on Blaine. The musician held his breath waiting in fear for the child's next move. Suddenly, Sammy bolted up right and threw himself at Blaine, arms outstretched toward his neck. Blaine wanted to scream. He was terrified; he knew he was being ridiculous but he couldn't help it. He heard the boy wretch then he felt something wet seep through his shirt. He pushed the little boy away from him, nearly throwing him. Sammy landed on his back on the bed and turned his head toward Blaine, who was now kneeling next to the bed, his eyes at the same level as Sammy's.

It was at that moment Kurt walked in on them. He tried to suppress his laughter when he saw what position Blaine was in and how he was looking at his little boy like he was some kind of predator.

Then, Sammy started to cry and Kurt went to him and took him into the bathroom. Right before leaving the room, he handed a clean shirt to Blaine and told him that he'd be right back.

While Kurt was taking care of his son, Blaine sat on the bed, shirtless, the soiled shirt on the floor and the clean one still in his hands. He was still in the same position ten minutes later when Kurt came back in the room.

"Blaine?" Kurt sat next him and put his hand on the man's shoulder. He winced at how tense Blaine seemed to be under his touch. "Blaine, talk to me please," Kurt pleaded and forced the musician to meet his gaze, holding Blaine's chin in hand. Blaine averted his gaze and remained silent.

After a few minutes, Blaine yawned and muttered about going home. He swore under his breath when he remembered that he didn't have his car. He let Kurt guide him under the covers and hold him for a while.

Blaine was the one to break the long silence.

"I don't like kids, Kurt," he admitted, his back turned to the other man. He felt Kurt tense behind him. "I've never liked them. I'm not really sure why. Or actually, I am. For one, they're very noisy." He turned on his back, ignoring Kurt's protest at the change of position. He could feel the other man's intense gaze on him as he continued, "There's bodily fluid, and that's disgusting." To make his point, he pointed to his dirty shirt on the floor. "They're little dictators who will manipulate you in their every whim, they cry each time they don't get what they want, they even cry when they get what they want because it isn't enough." Blaine was on a roll, and he kept on talking. "They're also so fragile and it's fucking scary to have to look after them. To know that if you screw up, the consequences can be more severe than just a bad hangover. Oh, and it kills love for couples. All the married couples I know who have kids have either had affairs or simply left their spouse. My little cousin is the worst. She's a real spoiled brat and she's so annoying, you have no idea Kurt, she's just ugh…"

Kurt laughed softly next to him. He didn't really like what Blaine was saying but it wasn't overly worrisome. This was a speech that most people made before having kids, and yeah, while it was true that sometimes children could be a real pain, it wasn't all of the time. One day, Blaine would get that they're just people with qualities and faults like any adult. He did not say anything though. He could tell that Blaine was not done with his speech on how much he disliked children.

"They stop you from living," Blaine continued, "Once you have to take care of a kid, you can't enjoy life anymore. It's like everything is about the stupid kid and it sucks all enjoyment from you."

"Maybe," Kurt finally said. "But let me tell you about the good things that they can bring to your life."

He laid his chin on Blaine's chest and looked him in the eye. "I agree with you when you say they're a responsibility, and yeah, that's true and scary. You have no idea how many times I freaked out before adopting Simon, how scared I was that I would screw up before Sammy was even born. But they're also wonderful, Blaine. There's something absolutely incredible about the fact that someone needs you this much. What you can have with a child is unique; you'll never feel this way about a boyfriend, friend, husband, or parent. It's just something strong but also fragile. As you said, you can screw up so easily. But let me tell you that when you don't, when you give it your all, then what they give you in return is worth all the time spent worrying, annoyed or angry at them. When children give you their love, it's such a precious gift. I hope that someday your opinion on them will change and that you'll get to experience this kind of love. "

"It sounds wonderful, Kurt, but it isn't what I want for me. Not ever." Blaine's tone had a sense of finality and Kurt did not say anything else after that.

As they repositioned themselves with Kurt spooning Blaine, the young father thought about what Blaine had said. He was afraid that he cared so much for the musician already. Noah had warned him to be careful but he hadn't listened. He wanted this too badly and feared that, after tonight, he had pushed Blaine too far and he would lose him. He tried not to think about it too much and instead tightened his hold on the other man who was already fast asleep.

To be continued...

* * *

Translation:

_Je serais là dans cinq minutes, si Clara est encore debout, alors elle peut les surveiller_. : I'll be there in five minutes. If Clara is still up, she can look after them.

_Oui, merci encore, bonne nuit_. : Yes, thank you again. Good night.

_Mais tu n'es pas encore au lit toi? _: Well, aren't you in bed yet?

_Tu devrai être au lit toi. _: You should be in bed by now.


	8. Chapter Seven

**_Hello readers!_**

**_I'm so sorry for having taken so long to publish the new chapter. Lots of things have been going on in my life; between work, amazing time at Ring*Con (never thought I'd meet Team Starkid in Germany :P), I barely had time to write… Still, two weeks ago I told myself that I really needed to start on the new chapter and now it's finally here :)_**

**_So in the last chapter, we left Kurt and Blaine in bed after a long talk about children. So let's see what happened next ;)_**

* * *

When Blaine slowly started to wake, he felt warmth all around him. It felt… _nice_, he thought to himself. His eyes fluttered open and he winced a little at how bright it was in the room. The curtains were left opened, leaving no barrier for the sun's rays to come through. Blaine had no idea what time it was so he tried to turn a little to look at Kurt's alarm clock on the bedside table. His movement startled Kurt slightly. Until then, the other man had remained blissfully asleep, his arms wrapped tightly around Blaine's upper body.

"Where are you going?" Kurt slurred, his voice thick with sleep and muffled in the back of Blaine's neck.

The hot puffs of breath and the gentle slide of Kurt's lips on his skin caused Blaine to shiver, his body fully awake now. He tried to stifle his groan in the pillow as Kurt started to lower his hand towards his growing hard-on. Blaine covered the other man's hand, guiding it where he really needed it to be. Kurt huffed but allowed Blaine to get what he wanted, for now. He helped the other man slide down his boxers and took a firm hold of Blaine's cock.

"Fuck." Blaine let out a whimper as Kurt started to stroke.

It was too slow; he needed more. Blaine tried to make Kurt understand to go faster as he grabbed the other man's hand and set the pace. It was a bit dry; Kurt gathered the precome and used it to ease the slide a little.

"Where's the lube?" Kurt asked, as Blaine kept thrusting up in Kurt's hand, apparently not minding too much about the lack of lubrification. His answer was to turn to face Kurt and bring the other man's hand to his mouth. Kurt watched dazedly as Blaine started to slowly suck on his fingers and then lick the palm of his hand making sure that it was wet enough. Then, Blaine guided Kurt's hand back on his cock. The musician moaned, his head now buried in the other man's neck.

Kurt felt his own hard-on press against Blaine's thigh and he groaned at the friction. Kurt gasped when Blaine pushed his boxers down to his knees and then circled his waist with his strong hands, bringing him close until both their cocks were sliding together. Blaine's hand was hot and sleek around them both. Kurt moaned brokenly, his hands gripping at Blaine's shoulders, nails digging into skin. Both men kept rocking together, their bodies so close that Blaine could barely move his hand to stroke their cocks.

Blaine moved a little, his hand abruptly slipping away from their erections. Kurt looked at him a little confused but Blaine only took his lover's hand and encouraged him to keep stroking them. Kurt was so focused on this one task that he did not notice Blaine reaching for the bedside table above their heads. Nor did he hear the sound of the bottle of lube opening or see one of Blaine's hands disappear behind the musician's back.

"Kurt… I need…" Blaine breathed into Kurt's skin, biting lightly under the other man's ear.

Kurt couldn't form words at the moment; he was slowly losing his mind at how good this felt. He could already feel the telltales of his orgasm.

Blaine abruptly brought his hand back to their erections, pushing Kurt's fingers out of the way and making the other man whimper at the sudden loss of friction and warmth around their dicks.

"What…" he had barely time to say, as Blaine put a condom on Kurt's aching erection and then turned, his back now facing Kurt's front. With one hand, he managed to guide Kurt's cock to his lubed and stretched asshole.

Kurt nearly passed out as his dick was surrounded by tight heat. He tried to focus on thrusting inside, but his brain had short-circuited at the idea that Blaine had been fingering himself open all along.

Blaine's hand gripped one of Kurt's ass cheeks, wanting the other man as close as humanly possible. That move made Kurt's cock bury even deeper inside of him, the head of his cock pressing repeatedly on his prostate.

"Fu…" Blaine turned his head into the pillow, trying to muffle the worse of the sounds he was making.

"Blaine," Kurt was so close now but he needed just a little more. "I'll just…" He pulled out of Blaine, wincing as he heard the other man whimper loudly underneath him. "Shhh, let me just…"

He moved Blaine so that he was now face down, upper body pressed into the mattress with his knees bent under him leaving his ass on display for Kurt. Blaine tried to protest, feeling so empty and wishing that Kurt would just fuck him again. He felt his cheeks being spread and then, finally, Kurt's cock was back inside him.

Kurt gripped Blaine's waist, his fingers probably leaving marks, and thrust hard into Blaine's tight hole.

For a few minutes, the room was only filled with their muffled moans and harsh breathing; the scent of sex so strong it made them both feel dizzy.

Kurt knew that Blaine was getting close now, his rim tightening around Kurt's cock each time he thrust inside. With one hand, he stroked Blaine's back, letting his nails scratch lightly across the sweaty skin. His other hand found its way to Blaine's dick which was hanging heavy between the man's legs, red and still slick with lube, spit and precome. Kurt barely grazed his fingers on the tender skin under the head then Blaine was coming, moaning loudly in the pillows, his whole body trembling from the aftershocks.

It only took Kurt a couple more thrusts and then he was coming undone, his cock buried deep inside of Blaine as he found his own release. He had to fight not to let himself crush Blaine with his body. He could barely carry his own weight, his arms too shaky, but he managed to let himself fall next to Blaine who was still lying on his front, fully sated.

Kurt turned on his side to reach for a tissue to put away the use condom. H e did not feel like getting up so he just left it on the floor, to be thrown to the trash later. As he returned to his spot next to Blaine, he noticed the other body shaking with laughter.

"What's so funny?" Kurt asked him, barely able to keep himself from giggling. He just felt so light and carefree at the moment and he reveled in the feeling.

"I feel like I'm fifteen again," Blaine finally managed to utter after his breath evened a little. "Although, the sex then was not that good." He turned his face to look at Kurt, whose eyebrows were raised in amusement, his swollen lips curved up into a smile.

"I can't remember the last time I felt this good being with someone," Kurt let out before his brain could stop him from blurting the words. He flushed and averted Blaine's gaze, suddenly feeling vulnerable next to this man who he barely knew.

Blaine's only response was to reach up with his hand and stroke Kurt's warm cheek with the tip of his fingers.

The gesture felt so intimate. Kurt's heart started to speed up, he opened his mouth to say something but then everything went downhill.

Suddenly, a loud noise was heard in a nearby room. It was a girl's voice, speaking really fast in French, her tone panicked. Then, a little boy was crying, probably because the girl had woken him up from a sound sleep. Footsteps came closer to the room where Kurt and Blaine were still lying on the bed mostly naked. Blaine's eyes were huge as he stared at the door. Kurt had no idea what to do but when he saw the door handle move; he got into action and threw Blaine out of the bed. He apologized quickly and then he put the covers over the other man to hide him from view as Clara and Simon burst into the room, shouting and talking non-stop and over each other. Sammy trailed after them, whining and yawning, his eyes rimmed with tears.

"Kurt, I need something to wear. I've been invited to Sasha's party this afternoon and I just realized that I have nothing decent to wear. Please, it's an emergency!" the teenage girl exclaimed dramatically, walking directly to Kurt's wardrobe, looking for a sweater that she could borrow.

"Dad, can you tell Clara that she can't just _scream_like that and scare me and Sammy?! Seriously, I don't want that to happen ever again." Simon then crouched down to his little brother and took him in his arms, trying to soothe him.

As Kurt tried to calm his children, Blaine remained motionless under the covers, trying to gauge at what time it would be safe to flee. When he heard footsteps going out of the room, he took his chance. He made sure that he was at least wearing his boxers, not risking lingering to get fully dressed, and then enveloped himself in the covers. He suddenly felt more sympathy toward that guy who once had to leave his loft completely naked. He stood up and walked as fast and as quietly as possible to the door. When he saw that no one was in the corridor, he ran to the entrance and let himself out. He barely had the time to sigh in relief when he was hauled up against the cold wooden door, strong hands encircling his throat.

_"T'es qui toi?!"_ A tall and muscled man asked him, his eyes glaring at Blaine with intensity. The musician struggled hard to breathe, trying to form words. _"Espèce de pervers, je t'ai posé une question!"_The covers slipped from Blaine's body, leaving him in nothing but his boxers.

The man growled and hauled Blaine even higher. The smaller man was now really scared and prayed to gods he didn't believe in, that something would save him from this crazy man.

Just when he thought that he would actually die strangled by a stranger, the door behind him moved and Kurt appeared next to him. Blaine suddenly felt lightheaded, for lack of air and the immense surge of relief that went through him. He could barely focus on what Kurt was saying to the other man but after a few more seconds, he felt the grip around his throat loosen and suddenly he fell on the floor, his back hitting the front of Kurt's legs.

"Oh my God, Blaine, are you okay?" Kurt knelt next to him and helped him back on his feet. Once they were both standing up, the crazy man was still glaring at Blaine. The musician backed away and started running towards the stairs, not even caring that he was nearly naked.

Kurt hit the tall man on the chest once, said something in French to him and then went after Blaine.

"Blaine! Wait!" Kurt managed to catch him near the main door to the building. He stopped, trying to catch his breath.

"Thanks," Blaine said, as Kurt handed him his clothes. "And also for saving me," he added, looking up to the spot where the tall man had attacked him.

"I'm so sorry about Paolo, he's Clara's father and he's really protective," Kurt explained as Blaine put his clothes on. "He's not usually like that, well, apart from when I bring someone home without telling him."

"Are you guys still together?" Blaine asked, feeling sudden anger at the thought.

"No, we're not, it's been a year. He's just there for Clara." Kurt reached for Blaine's hand but the other man backed away a little. "I swear, he's just a friend," Kurt added in a pleading tone.

"Ok, I believe you." Blaine averted Kurt's eyes.

"Can I call you later?" Kurt stepped closer, "I mean, when things are a bit less crazy here?"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Kurt." Blaine tried to sound as firm as possible, glancing down and ignoring Kurt's reaction to his words.

"What do you mean?" Kurt's voice broke a little at the end of his question. His eyes searched Blaine's face that was still tilted down. "Blaine?"

"I'm sorry Kurt, I can't do this." Blaine turned and left the building.

Kurt stood there for a couple of minutes, staring at the door through which Blaine had just left. His feet felt stuck to the floor, not allowing him to run after the other man. He should have stopped him, tried harder, convince him to give him a chance.

But instead, he just remained there, his face still reflecting the shock and hurt that he was feeling; a single tear rolled down his cheek, a sniffing sound filled the air.

* * *

Blaine kept running until he was sure that there was a safe distance between where he was and Kurt's building. He knew that the other man had not been running after him but he still turned around to check. He could not suppress the slight disappointment he felt when he saw that only a few pedestrians were walking down the otherwise calm street. He slumped forward and sighed deeply. _This was what he had wanted so why did he feel like he had made a big mistake? _

_"Tu vas bien Monsieur?"_a little girl came closer and laid her little hand on his shoulder. He startled from her touch and she took a few steps back, regarding him with concern in her bright brown eyes.

_"Super."_He snapped at her and then stood up abruptly, walking in the opposite direction of the little girl who looked at him with hurt and confusion.

Blaine could not help the feeling that her expression was a bit similar to the one Kurt had worn only minutes ago; her big blue eyes opened wide and her mouth hanging a little open. He had to get away from here and stop thinking about the other man before he did something stupid like walking back to Kurt's place. After that morning, he had realized that a relationship with Kurt would have been wonderful but he had also been reminded of what chaos kids bring to life. This was just not for him. Kurt would find someone else, a man who would not mind having a family with him. It stung that this meant that Blaine could not have Kurt but the other man had been clear during their date. His children were the most important people in his life; anyone who did not get that was not worth his time.

Blaine walked to the nearest metro station and tried not to think about anything anymore for the rest of the way home.

* * *

After Blaine's departure, Paolo had gone to Kurt and led him back in his friend's apartment. The tall man apologized for scaring Kurt's lover away. The other man reassured him telling him that attacking Blaine had not been the reason why he the musician had left. Kurt had then asked Paolo if he could look after the children for the rest of the morning while he locked himself in his room and dialed Noah's number.

"Hey buddy!" his friend's voice greeted him enthusiastically. Kurt's heart constricted as he remembered how his dad used to call him that all the time. His breath hitched when he tried to stifle a sob. "What's wrong?" Noah asked, concern suddenly clear in his tone.

"He left," Kurt simply said, trying to keep it together. He knew that he should not let this get him down so much. "Blaine's gone."

"What happened?" Puck asked gently, not wanting to tell Kurt _'I told you so'_.

"The same thing that always happens; everything was wonderful until the kids came into the picture, quite literally this morning, and he just fled."

"I'm so sorry, Kurt. That guy is an idiot." For some reason, Noah knew that saying this would not help his friend. "I wish I could kick his sorry ass," he added, not really meaning it but hoping to lighten up the conversation.

"No need, Noah. He actually got a scare from Paolo."

At that, Puck winced in sympathy for the guy. He knew Paolo very well and was quite familiar with the man's incredible strength and intimidating stature. Fortunately, Paolo and he had become friends after the first few months following Kurt's divorce to Marc. But they still had ended up in a couple of fights before, mostly when Noah had been angry with Kurt for cheating on Marc.

"Wow, ok, maybe I should leave the guy alone then." Noah tried to stifle laughter at the thought of a tiny guy at Paolo's mercy. After all, Kurt had told him that Blaine was not the tallest man he'd met.

"It's not funny," Kurt attempted to hide his own amusement at the memory. Though, the look of terror on Blaine's face flashed before his eyes and made him feel an ounce of guilt. He sighed, not sure how to feel anymore.

"Kurt?" Noah prompted after the line had gone oddly silent.

"I'm sorry," his best friend sniffed, "I just thought…" He could not finish his sentence; his words drowned in his tears.

"Oh no, Kurt, baby, no, I'm so sorry. I'm such a crap friend." Noah wanted to make his friend feel better but he had no idea what to do. It scared him that Kurt seemed so upset. He had warned his friend not to get too attached but sometimes these things were beyond control.

"Sorry, I just…" Kurt said, his breath hitching between sobs. "It's just that there are these moments during which he makes me… made me believe that this could work out." Kurt thought back to that morning, seconds before the children's intrusion. He had felt so vulnerable and yet so safe under Blaine's tender touch; his skin vibrating as Blaine's fingers trailed softly on his cheeks. The adoration in the musician's eyes had made his breath catch in his throat and his heart stutter. Kurt could not understand how Blaine could be so caring towards him one moment and the next he would act as if none of what he'd done or said had meant a thing.

"Kurt?" Noah broke the other man's train of thoughts, bringing him back to their conversation. "I know that what I'm going to say to you will not help, but…" He took a deep breath and then let out what he had wanted to say since the beginning of their call, "Maybe he's just a really considerate lover because he knows that some men prefer it that way." He waited for a reaction but none came. "I mean, don't get me wrong, he does sound like a good guy, but the way he can just shift from the nice caring lover to the disinterested guy seems a bit strange to me."

"It's not like that, Noah." Kurt did not even know why he was defending Blaine, _who knew if Puck was wrong about him?_"We talked last night, during our date and also afterwards. He told me about his feelings towards children. I was actually reminded quite a lot of you when he explained his issue. That's why I hoped that in time he would change his mind. After all, Beth is the best thing in your world but long before she was born, you did not want her."

"Maybe, but as you said, it takes time. Besides, with Beth, I had a fierce girlfriend who was not letting me go that easily and a stubborn friend there to make sure that I didn't fuck up," Noah said, trying to make Kurt understand that his situation had been different to Blaine's. "Also, Beth was really my responsibility; I could not just run like that, this kid needed a father. Simon, Sammy and Clara already have that. And Blaine knows that he has no tie to them."

Kurt sighed in defeat.

"You're right. I was stupid to think that this could work."

"Hey no, that's not what I said, Bud," Noah protested gently. "Look, I did not mean to make you feel like that. I don't know the guy so I can't really know how he truly feels. It's just speculation. I just wished I could do something to make things better." Noah hated when his friend was hurting, it was one of the worst feelings, not being able to make sure that Kurt would always be happy no matter what.

When they were teenagers, and Kurt had confessed his love for him, Noah had really tried to give him what he wanted. But quite quickly, he had realized that he could never be the one that Kurt needed, not as a boyfriend at least. But he had promised Kurt that he would always be there no matter what would happen. Kurt had been heartbroken at first, barely getting over the rejection. But with time it got better and to this day, his friendship with Noah was still strong. He was grateful to have the other man in his life.

"Look Kurt, I'm not sure what to say to make you feel better. Maybe give him some time, see if in a few days he'll answer a phone call or a text. And if he does, then you can try again from there. But you also have to accept that if he really doesn't want to try, it'll be his loss but you'll have to move on."

"I know," Kurt said, smiling a little. Talking with Noah always helped, no matter the situation.

"Are you coming over this weekend?" Puck asked after a few seconds of comfortable silence. "You have not met Claire yet, I have to say, she's really cool. Maybe Finn found The One this time." He laughed at his own joke. It was common knowledge that each time Finn had a new girlfriend; he was convinced she was the one.

"Don't jinx it for him!" Kurt joked right back. "I'm not sure if I'll come, it depends how things go during the weekend. I'll text you to let you know."

"Okay, well, take care of yourself then, babe."

"Thank you, Noah." Kurt's tone translated how much it meant to him that his friend was always there to listen to him when he needed him.

"Don't mention it."

"I love you, Noah." Kurt smiled.

"I love you too, Kurt. Say hi to the kids for me and give a high five to Paolo for scaring the shit out of Blaine." He ended his sentence in laughter.

"You're awful!" Kurt laughed too, feeling a lot better.

"You still love me," Puck teased his friend.

"Bye, Noah," Kurt giggled.

"Bye, buddy."

Kurt hung up and put his phone on the nightstand. He lay on his back and closed his eyes breathing deeply, the scent of Blaine still present in the room. He waited for the sadness to engulf him again but it did not come. He felt oddly serene for a few minutes. He let himself go, clearing his mind of all thoughts.

* * *

Blaine was three stations away from his place when he took his phone out of his pocket and started typing a text to Kurt:

_I'm really sorry about this morning, I screwed up and…_

The musician sighed as he hit the delete button and started a new text:

_I told you I don't do kids, Kurt, I should not have accepted the date last night even though it was one of the best night I've had in a long time…_

Frustrated, he modified what he had written:

_I told you I don't do kids, Kurt, I should not have accepted the date last night. I do like you but…_

The lady next to him sent him a strange look as he groaned and pressed quite aggressively on the delete button again.

He was about to start on a new text when he saw that he had reached his destination. Sighing, he put his phone back in his pocket and walked to the exit of the metro. While on the platform, he hesitated trying again but then he resigned himself and walked up that stairs that led to the street.

Even if he had texted Kurt, it would not have changed anything. Their situation remained the same; Blaine was a single man who couldn't stand children and Kurt was a single father. They simply could not match.

And yet, when Blaine thought back to earlier that morning, he could remember the warmth and tenderness of what he had felt after they had both come down from their orgasms.

_"I can't remember the last time I felt this good being with someone."_

Kurt's tone had sounded so open and sincere, his eyes boring into the musician's intensely. Blaine had been about to answer that it was the same for him. But then, reality had crashed back in and now he did not know what to think or feel anymore. He knew deep down that getting over Kurt would not be so easy. The other man had managed to get through his walls and tip-toe inside Blaine's heart already.

Blaine was not in love, though. He couldn't be.

He tried to convince himself of that as he walked towards his building, humming 'As time goes by' under his breath.

* * *

__Translations:

_"T'es qui toi?!" _: Who are you?!

_"Espèce de pervers, je t'ai posé une question!" _: You sick pervert, I asked you a question!

_"Tu vas bien Monsieur?" _: Are you alright Mister?

_"Super." _: Fine.


	9. Chapter Eight

**_Hello readers :)_**

**_I apologize for having taken a bit long to update again. Things have been crazy in life and I've just been really busy. I'm sorry to say that it make take long for the next chapter to be published as well because I'm going away for a few days and then it's back to work so not much free time left. I have already started chapter nine though, and so far I'm really happy with it and it's halfway done._**

**_Once again, and I'll keep saying it to the very end ;) a huge thank you to my wonderful beta just-another-pipped-dreamer without whom this story wouldn't be the same. Also, it's fun to have someone who truly enjoys the story and who is a bit like some of you except that with her help we manage to make it better._**

**_Okay, no more ramblings, there are no warnings for the chapter (yeah no smut this time lol)._**

**_Enjoy reading :)_**

* * *

Chapter Eight :

* * *

**_Interlude of texts, voicemails and emails received by Blaine on Friday _**

* * *

From: Tina  
To: Blaine

**Little favor for your oh so beloved friends ;)**

_Hey Blaine, _

_I'm not sure if Mike has told you already but we have plans tomorrow for the whole day. The in-laws are coming… Mike will probably call you later to ask but, just in case he forgets, can you please buy the paint needed for the set? Sebastian said that he would need it for tomorrow afternoon. Not sure why, since he'll be busy and Mike will be unavailable but better not anger the beast, he's already a real pain each time I try to talk organization with him._

_Anyway, be a dear_ _and do us this favor, please._

_I'll owe you ;) _

_Tina J_

_P.S.: How did things go during your date? Jeff told me that Kurt seems really nice and he also added that he was hot :P When will I get to meet him?_

* * *

**From Jeff – 11h35**

**_Hi lover boy! How come have I not heard anything from your date yet? Me and you, coffee later today, same place as usual? I need details ;)_**

* * *

From: Sebastian  
To: Show Group

**Rehearsals**

Hi everyone,

Reminder: Blaine and I are going to present the project of the show to Mr. Wethils and his team on Saturday the 14th.

If all goes well, we'll start our first rehearsals the following week. From this, we'll be able to see how we'll schedule the rest of the rehearsals. I count on you, Tina, to come prepared with ideas of a schedule that would work for everyone. I think that it would be great if you could have a dance rehearse every other day during the first two weeks at least. I know that most of you already have the different routines down but practice makes perfect!

I suggest that Blaine, Mike and I discuss casting right after the presentation. If you know talented dancers or gymnasts, please tell them about the show and ask them to come to the auditions.

Things are not set in stone yet but it's better to be prepared in advance.

Blaine and I will let you know how the presentation went as soon as possible.

Have a good day everyone!

Sebastian.

P.S.: Tina you really need to give me Mike's new email, I trust you to forward this mail to him for now. Also, remind him about the paint!

* * *

From: Thadeus Clarcks  
To:Blaine

**Meeting**

Blaine,

I need to see you this afternoon. I'm aware that you usually don't work on Friday but this is important. Even if you can't come to the office, call me and we'll arrange a meeting at your place instead.

Please answer as soon as you've read this email.

Thad.

...

**Thadeus Clarcks – Département Divertissement**

Ericksen – Art Et Divertissement

18 Bvd Haussman

75009 Paris Cedex

01 87 58 12 00

* * *

**New voicemail from 0658974236 at 12:58 a.m.**

_"Hi Blaine! I guess that if Jeff gave his seal of approval; the guy must be a good one. Hang on to that one."_

_"Tell him about…"_

_"Oh, I have to tell you that Jeff wants all the detail when you meet up later."_

_"Also, ask when we should meet."_

_"Do it yourself then."_

_"Hey Blaine, just wanted to ask if you got my text because I did not get the confirmation and you didn't text me back. Anyway, let me know when you want to meet. If I don't get a reply by 2 p.m., I'll assume you're still at Kurt's and will leave you alone you sex-fiend!"_

_"Shut up… Sorry about that Blaine, Jeff is just being his stupid self right now."_

_"You still love me!"_

_"Not sure right now. Ok, call Jeff as soon as you can to let him know about this afternoon. Bye."_

* * *

From: Cooper  
To: Blaine

**Coming over next week for some needed Bro-time!**

Hey B!

You remember how I told you it was possible that could get a week off during July? Well, I just spoke to the director on the phone and he said that I wasn't needed for two weeks of shooting so I decided to fly over to you and mom.

We definitely need to save some time for just the two of us. When was the last time we had an Epic-Anderbros-Extravaganza-Day? Well, it's so long ago that I can't even remember and that is why, Squirt, we're going to spend a whole day together. Don't even try to get out of it. And I already asked Sebastian to give you a full day free of rehearsal, talks about the show and other things that he could have asked you to do. Also, I convinced mom to sweet-talk Thad and if you're lucky you'll even get two days off- she is THAT good ;)

We'll have to discuss what we can do during the day because it's been too long since I last came to Paris (yeah B, a year feels like an eternity when you're a busy actor like I am). We could race up the stairs of the Eiffel Tower! I so want to try that since Nick mentioned it while he was drunk a few years back. Can we do that B? Can you imagine if paparazzi show up and it all gets covered? It would be awesome!

Crap, I have to go but I'm calling mom tonight to tell her when she needs to come pick me up at the airport.

See you soon, Squirt!

P.S.: Mom said that you seem to have a new beau, not just a one night stand this time? I'm shocked B but also excited and I want you to tell me all about him as soon as we get our day of awesome Bro-ness!

* * *

**From Jeff – 14h16**

**_Get some you sex-fiend!_**

* * *

Slow music began to fill the loft as Blaine resumed playing. He had been sitting at his piano for hours now, only stopping when he felt unsatisfied to add changes to the sheet music. He had been trying to improve this segment of the piece for almost two hours now, constantly replaying this same part. He had allowed free reign to his emotions, a far cry from his usual habit to keep everything bottled up.

_Vulnerability; _something he had not shown since his father's death. As a teenager, he had always felt so fragile and breakable. After the terrible events of his first school dance, Blaine had felt so small. The fear had been overwhelming and constant. He could not sleep, too scared of re-living everything through vivid nightmares. He had felt lost and often wondered why he had survived. Why did he have to go through such a traumatic experience and not be allowed the peace that death would have brought him? But as time went by, he understood that he had been lucky. When his father had come back from his tour at the time, Blaine finally saw that the man he had sometimes feared and resented was maybe just as vulnerable as he was. Of course, the two of them never showed this side of themselves after that. It was only during his father's funeral that Blaine had allowed himself to break down for a day. Afterwards, he pushed this vulnerability deep inside and pretended to be much stronger than he felt.

_Loss_; sometimes he wondered about all the things that he had lost. He was not really sure what it was but this nagging feeling that so many important things in his life had passed him by never left him. It had become stronger over the past few days. And Blaine knew that it was because of Kurt. A man like he had once hoped for, many years ago, when he was so naïve about love and life. A man that he could have but he was too scared to keep. Being with the other man felt like it was too much. But losing him was even worse. And yet he could not lose Kurt because he never really had him in the first place.

The young musician let his fingers caress the ivory keys in a graceful dance. The rhythm then picked up and Blaine felt himself be transported through the force of music. A smile started to tug at his lips and his eyes began to fill with tears.

_Hope_; another feeling he had not experienced in a long time. He usually felt excitement or enthusiasm about a project or something good happening in his life but never hope. He always feared that something terrible would happen and everything he had accomplished would amount to nothing in the end. Blaine ignored why or how he could feel hope as he played. Music tended to make him feel like he was living the life he could never attain. Music was like magic to him, always generous in her gifts.

A single tear got caught in his eyelash as he blinked. Blaine's mind had drifted far from his loft. He was so far away from there, in a world where everything was so overwhelming and left him in complete awe. His whole body was vibrating, his senses ignited.

The young musician did not notice the sound of a key turning in the front door's lock. He remained blissfully oblivious as someone came inside. Soft footstep could be barely heard over the beautiful music that filled the place. As if in a trance, Blaine was standing now, his whole body moved to the frantic rhythm that the piece had turned into. Laughter escaped the musician followed by a choked sobbing sound and an almost angry jerk of his head. The music started to slow and Blaine sat back down, letting his whole body relax as the piece came to an end.

The musician nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a clapping sound behind him. He wiped the tears from his face and attempted to compose himself a little before turning to see who the intruder was.

Sebastian was smiling, his eyes wide, giving away how impressed he was.

"Seb, you scared me!" Blaine's heart was racing, his fingers still tingling from his intense playing. "Never do that again! I could have a stroke or something."

Sebastian's only answer was to come closer and hold him tight. He murmured in Blaine's ear, «You transported me, Blaine. You truly are magical."

He broke off from their embrace, pecking Blaine on his still damp cheek. "Just wow, Blaine! Goosebumps all over my body; look!" He pulled his sleeve up to show Blaine his arm where all hairs were still up.

Blaine laughed softly, feeling a light blush cover his cheeks at the praise from his best friend.

"It this a piece you planned to have on the show? Because if it is, we have to present that one on Saturday!" Sebastian continued enthusiastically.

"I'm not sure yet," Blaine answered a bit timidly. He felt like this piece should not be shared, it was so deep and personal. But he knew that Sebastian would disagree and have him perform it in front of Mr. Wethils in the end. "It's not really completed yet, it needs a bit more work…"

"Well, even if you can't have it completed by next week, we definitely should consider presenting at least a part of it." Sebastian guided Blaine back to the keyboard and sat next to him. "You just blew me away, Blaine," he gestured with his hand near his face, mimicking a small bomb going off.

"I'll see if I can manage to edit a short part out of it, in case it's not finished by next week," Blaine finally said, looking down at the ivory keys. He still felt on edge, trying to recover from the intense emotions he had been pulled from so abruptly by the interruption of his friend.

Sebastian put his left arm around the other man's shoulder and squeezed a little, unaware of how Blaine was feeling at the moment. It was only when he heard his best friend sniffing that he turned to face him and asked,

"Is everything okay?" he searched Blaine's face with eyes, trying to read there what was wrong.

"Yeah," Blaine answered, a bit weakly. "It's just music; it does that to me sometimes." He looked down avoiding his friend's penetrating gaze.

"You're a real artist, Blaine, that's why you feel so overwhelmed when you play," Sebastian told him; a small smile tugged at Blaine's lips but his head remained lowered. "You're sure there's nothing else going on, though?" Sebastian pushed.

"I… it's nothing really. It's stupid," Blaine started dejectedly. "I don't do that, I never do."

"You lost me there, man." Blaine looked up and saw confusion on Sebastian's face.

"Just that guy I was seeing…"

Understanding flashed through Sebastian's eyes.

"You mean that Kurt guy, right?" he asked his friend, who had lowered his eyes again. Sebastian had known about Kurt since Tina had not stopped bragging about the man.

"Yeah, I really liked him but it couldn't work between us," he continued in a small voice.

"His loss!" Sebastian patted his best friend on the back.

Blaine did not agree with that statement. If anything, it was he who had truly lost something good.

"But don't worry Blaine, if you keep playing like that, men will stand in line to get you, not that they don't already do. Seriously man, I'm kind of glad you ended this thing you had with that guy."

Sebastian had felt an instant dislike of Kurt. He had never met the other man but he could not help but notice how Blaine looked each time he talked about him. Sure, he loved his best friend deeply and wanted to see him happy but Kurt was bad news. He was too much of a distraction for Blaine who had to focus on their show. Sebastian was glad to find out that things had not worked out between the two men. At least Blaine was now fully back on track.

"I'm not sure this is what I want…"

"Then just keep going the way we're both used to," Sebastian interrupted him. "Fuck'em and leav'em. Nothing's more complicated than love in life."

Blaine only nodded half-heartedly. His best friend hugged him tight and whispered in his ear, "It was good for you to have fun for a few days but it's better this way, you'll see."

Blaine was the one to break his embrace, looking hurt at Sebastian's words. He tried not to let it show though, but it barely mattered, as his best friend was now flicking through the pages of his sheet music.

"You should play it again for me, Blaine" he turned to his friend, completely ignoring the forlorn look on his face, "I only got to hear the end when I arrived."

"Sure," Blaine said as he let his fingers fall back on the ivory keys.

When Blaine starts to play again, he doesn't feel overwhelmed anymore. His walls are back in place, hiding away his emotions and vulnerability. Sebastian does not notice a significant change, for him the piece still sounds amazing. The rhythm is enthralling and slower parts of the music are like soothing magic on his heart.

Blaine remains focused on his music, simply playing and not feeling.

* * *

Thad checked his emails one last time before leaving his office. He also took his phone out to see if he had any missing messages. Nothing. He went to Brittany, who was replacing Sylvia, his usual secretary, for the day, to ask if maybe she had received a call from Blaine and if he left any message for him. But the blond woman informed him that the musician had not called. Thad sighed in frustration. He dialed Blaine's mobile number.

_Hello, you've reached Blaine Anderson. I'm not available at the moment. Leave a message with your phone number so I can call you back as soon as possible. Thank you._

It took all of Thad's self control not to throw his mobile on the floor. Brittany eyed him with curiosity as he rushed past her desk and down the corridor.

Thad decided that he would try Blaine's place. Maybe the musician had a connection problem and could not read his emails, or the battery of his phone died and could not answer any calls. Or the other man was just plain ignoring him. Thad liked Blaine, even though he thought that the musician could be lazy and uncooperative some of the time, he still believed in Blaine. He may not be as talented as his late father but there was definitely something there. And with this new opportunity, Thad hoped to give Blaine a chance to get his first real break. Also, if Blaine were to succeed at the festival, Thad would get the most important promotion of his career. That is why the man _had_to convince the musician to accept this new project.

It took around ten minutes for the taxi to drive him to Blaine's loft. He walked to the main door and opened it. The lock system had been broken for years allowing anyone to come inside. More than once, Thad had told Blaine to see the landlord to get it fixed. Right now though, it was working in his favor since he doubted that Blaine would have buzzed him inside. He climbed the stairs that led to the loft and knocked three times on the door. A muffled sound of footsteps was heard from inside and then a loud bang sound followed by "Fuck!" until the key in the lock turned and Blaine appeared in the doorway. He was in sweats and a simple white t-shirt, a towel around his neck, his hair damp and sticking up in every direction.

"Thad, what are you doing here?" Blaine was surprised to see the other man. _Was he supposed to meet his boss today? He had not checked his schedule since the day before._

"By the look of surprise on your face, I can conclude that you have not checked your emails today," Thad said as a greeting.

Blaine's only response was to shake his head and allow Thad to come inside.

"It's alright, Blaine," Thad sighed, as he sat on the sofa near the door.

"I'm sorry, my mind has been elsewhere all afternoon. Then Sebastian arrived and we got caught up talking about the show and other things. I hope you can understand." Blaine looked up at his superior with pleading eyes.

"It's fine, I guess. And this was not scheduled so it's not your fault; just check your emails more often, okay?" He looked through his messenger bag and pulled a bright red file from it. He then handed it to Blaine. "Read this."

**_Grand Festival du Film à Paris le 17 novembre 2012._**

(Great Film Festival, Paris November 17th 2012)

_Artistes, jeunes cinéastes de l'ombre, scénaristes et musiciens venez nombreux vous présenter au grand concours qui aura lieu le 17 novembre 2012. Huit grandes catégories, un grand prix et de nombreuses récompenses pour tous les participants. _(Whether you're an artist, a young a director in the making, a script writer or a musician, you can all take part to the great contest on November 17th2012. There are eight categories with one big prize and many consolation prizes for all participants.)

_Les participants devront travailler sur deux projets qui seront à présenter le matin du festival. _(The morning all participants will present in front of our jury the two projects that they'll have worked on in preparation of the contest.).

_Si vous faites partie d'une entreprise de divertissement, une maison de production de cinéma ou de théâtre, veuillez nous contacter rapidement afin de nous présenter la ou les personnes que vous avez choisies pour représenter votre entreprise. _(If you are part of a company in the entertainment industry, please contact us to tell us who is/are the person(s) that will represent your company).

Blaine stopped reading, looking up in interrogation at Thad who just smiled. The musician had heard of this film festival a while ago. He had even tried to find a way to present a piece, but had given up on that idea once he had called and the organizers had explained that he could not be an unsponsored candidate. You had to work on two projects that were given by the judges of the festival. You also needed to be part of a company that dealt with entertainment, film production, music or an editing house. It had not crossed Blaine's mind to ask Thad if _Ericksen: Art et Divertissement_planned on taking part in the festival. But now that Thad had given him this promotion slip for him to read, he was curious to know why his boss had brought it to him.

"I don't really understand why you're showing me this," Blaine said, not daring to hope yet.

"Well my dear Blaine, it happens that Mr. Ericksen was quite impressed with your new music piece and said that you were talented. We haven't found anyone to present at the festival yet and Mr. Ericksen suggested that you could try to work on the first project that was assigned and then we'll see if you'd be up for the bigger challenge." Thad took a deep breath and looked expectantly at Blaine, waiting for a reaction. "So, what do you think?" he prompted as the musician remained silent.

"I'm flattered but are you sure that I'm the right person for the job?" Blaine was not really confident.

"Of course you are!" Thad exclaimed as if it was obvious. "One of the eight categories is 'compose an original soundtrack.' Don't you remember what you told me when you first interviewed for the job at _Ericksen: Art et Divertissement_?"

"That I wanted to work on original soundtracks for short movies," Blaine said with a small smile finally breaking through.

"Exactly!" Thad said enthused. "And now you can actually work on a project that you're excited about. This is your chance, Blaine."

"Wow, I don't know what to say. This is all so soon, why wasn't I told before?" he had a hard time wrapping his mind around his luck.

"I don't want to sound mean but it's mainly because you usually never show real interest in what you do for the company. And I'm aware that writing songs for stupid commercials can be boring but at least you're not the guy who wrote the pieces for the tramways and train stations."

Blaine winced a bit at that because he knew that, had he not gotten the job at _Ericksen: Art et Divertissement_, he would have ended up doing exactly that.

"So, what do you think Blaine? Are you up to the challenge?" Thad asked him.

Blaine thought for a moment about this. A project like that would take much more of his time. This meant longer hours of work and less freedom. But this was what he had always wanted to do since he started playing music. When he was still a little boy, he used to mute the TV during his favorite cartoons and would play little tunes to go along the actions of the characters. Later, when he was in junior high school and had become much better at the piano, he would put the Harry Potter movies and play along the original soundtrack composed by John Williams.

Blaine did not like working for _Ericksen: Art et Divertissement_, this was no secret to anyone. But he could not pass such an opportunity.

"Yes, I'm interested in working on this project," he finally said with a smile.

"You won't regret this Blaine, I promise you." They both stood and Thad shook Blaine's hand with enthusiasm. "I think we should meet on Monday morning so I can give all the guidelines of the project that has been assigned to you. I think you're going to love the little movie they've given you." He did not add more, not wanting to spoil the full surprise to Blaine. "Also, you'll meet the team you'll be working with if you're to take the assignment, Mr. Ericksen-Hummel and Mrs. Weber who will join us on the project."

"I'll be there at 8:30 if that's alright with you," Blaine said.

"That's perfect Blaine, thank you. I'll call you if there's any change."

"Okay, thank you, Thad, have a nice weekend."

"You too ,Blaine," Thad said as he walked to the door and left.

Blaine looked back at the red file still on the table and smiled to himself, feeling really excited and hopeful about this new project. Then he groaned a little as he thought back to what Sebastian had told him earlier.

_"You can't let yourself be distracted by anything now Blaine. I need you 110% on this with me, okay?" his best friend had said as Blaine had walked him to the door._

Blaine sighed. Sebastian did not need to know. The musician was not about to pass such a great opportunity. He would pretend to his friend that he got promoted, hence more work hours. He was sure that no matter what, Sebastian would always find something about Blaine that annoyed him. After all, that was the main dynamic of their friendship.

Blaine was also looking forward to how great a distraction working on this project would be. His mind had wandered while he had played earlier and a good portion of the piece he had finished composing was inspired by Kurt. If he had something specific to work on, he would be able to focus all his energy and thought into it. Blaine smiled to himself.

_This was exactly what he needed._

* * *

Well all the translation is already in the chapter this time so no French lesson :P but there'll be some in the next chapter ;)


	10. Chapter Nine

**_Dear readers,_**

**_I hope that you will enjoy reading this new chapter. Once again, it took a bit longer than expected for me to publish it. From now on, I think that it'll be better that I don't really promise to publish faster because I can never know what could happen to slow down the process of writing. And with Christmas and the end of the year upon us, I fear I may have even less time to write. _**

**_Still, I want to say thank you to those of you who take time to leave a review, I read and try to reply to all of them. It really motivates me to keep on with the story :)_**

**_And of course, a huge thank you to my wonderful beta without whom this story would not be the way it is ^^ _**

**_I'll leave you to read now._**

**_Cynthia x_**

* * *

On Saturday afternoon, Blaine found himself in the _'Monsieur Bricolage'_ gallery inside the _'Leclerc'_. Mike had called him again in the morning to remind his friend about the paint that was needed for the sets of the show. It had taken Blaine almost an hour to find the right shades and also the brand that Mike had demanded.

_"It is the best you can find on the market Blaine and it lasts a lot longer than any cheap paint," his friend had admonished on the phone._

So here Blaine was, heading to the checkout point of the _'Monsieur Bricolage'_. He paid for the eight cans of paints and then carried them outside the shop to his car. He then decided that since he was already there, he would go for some groceries as well. His mother would not come over with the usual load until Wednesday and Blaine had found out that morning that he was short on cereal and milk. _Damn Jeff for always stealing his food when he was around. _His blonde friend would eat cereal at any hour of the day. A favorite story among his friends was the disastrous prank Sebastian and Blaine tried to pull on Jeff's 21st birthday. They bought Jeff ten big packets of his favorite cereal brands as a joke, but we're dismayed when Jeff was perfectly thrilled with his present of 'just' cereal. Blaine would never forget the happy look on Jeff's face. Despite its failure, they still enjoyed telling the story among friends and it never failed to amuse them.

Blaine headed back inside the _'Leclerc'_ towards the main shop. He wandered through the food section, getting some chocolate, cereal, tea, and coffee. He was about to pick some candies from one of the shelves when something caught his eye.

_"Allez Kurt, tu sais bien que Clara raffole de ce truc et les garçon vont le vider en un rien de temps. __Il vaut mieux en prendre trois paquets pour être sûrs,_" Paolo said to Kurt as he put two more packs of Lays chips into the shopping cart

Blaine gasped and barely had the time to plaster himself against the shelf, before Kurt or Paolo could see him. He waited a few minutes, not moving, and then sighed in relief when he saw the two men walk down another aisle in the opposite direction.

_That was close_, he thought to himself.

He was not even sure why he had hidden from Kurt. Part of him still felt guilty for hurting the other man. But Blaine was glad that neither of the two men had noticed his presence, especially Paolo. It wasn't that Blaine was _scared_ of the tall guy. Okay, maybe he was a little but _who could blame him?_ _Look at him, he's almost as impressive as that scary guy on _Game of Thrones_ who's name Blaine could not recall since he'd stopped watching midway through Season 1.._

Blaine sighed and slowly removed himself from the shelf, trying not to disrupt the candies too much; he'd hate to ruin the hard work of the person who had arranged them in neat rows. He stooped down to grab his shopping bag to leave when he sensed someone behind him. Thinking it was another customer who thought Blaine was in their way to get to the Skittles and Mars bars, the musician stood up quickly and turned to apologize. But the moment he was faced with the other person, he wished he had just left his shopping bag behind and run as far away as possible.

"_You_," Paolo said, anger clear in his tone as he took a step closer to Blaine who hit the shelf behind him, causing packets of chocolates and candies to fall on the floor. The musician had no time to worry about it though because in the next second, Paolo grabbed him by the front of his t-shirt and pulled him close, too close for Blaine's comfort and he started to shake a little with fear.

_Today is really not my day_, Blaine thought to himself as the taller man started to mutter things in French mixed with English.

"You hurt him, _connard_!" Paolo bellowed in Blaine's face. Then, as abruptly as he had grabbed him, Kurt's ex let go of Blaine and seemed to soften slightly. "But I'm sorry for the other morning," Paolo said, struggling a little with his words.

Blaine suspected that the other man was not entirely sincere in his apology, but the musician was too stunned to point that out. At least Paolo was not preventing him from leaving anymore. But as soon as the thought of running crossed Blaine's mind, the other man grabbed him again by the shoulders, surprisingly gently, and manage to say, "Look, I know I acted wrong, okay."

Words seem to come a bit hard for Paolo whose strong French accent made it a bit difficult for Blaine to understand. Still, the musician stayed silent and tried to understand what Paolo wanted to say to him. "Kurt's been unhappy since yesterday. So you better fix it."

"It's not that simple," Blaine answered, preparing himself for another onslaught of Paolo's anger. He closed his eyes and backed a little more into the shelf, sending more candies on the floor.

Paolo was about to ask the smaller man what he was doing when a security guard arrived.

_"Il y a un problème messieurs?"_ he asked, looking pointedly at Paolo who had taken a step further from Blaine whose eyes were still closed. The man approached them, glaring at the mess that was on the floor.

_"Juste deux vieux potes qui se retrouvent, ne vous en faites pas monsieur,"_ Paolo lied to the security guy with a big smile while patting Blaine on the back.

The musician opened his eyes, staring in shock at Kurt's ex. _What the hell is he playing at? We're certainly not old friends!_

The security guy looked at them both, suspicion clear in his eyes. He had seen on one of the cameras that the two men seemed to be having an argument.

_"Vous êtes sûrs?"_ the man insisted looking directly at Blaine, trying to see if the smaller of the two had something else to say.

Blaine noticed Paolo staring at him and nodding almost imperceptibly then the musician answered the security guy,_ "Tout va bien Monsieur."_ Blaine faked a reassuring smile and even nudged Paolo in the side as he would any of his other friends.

_"Oui, nous sommes désolés pour le dérangement Monsieur,"_ Paolo added sending an apologetic smile in the other man's direction.

The security guy looked at them for another moment, they both nodded and smiled, and he finally decided that he was not needed there. He still asked both men to put the candies and chocolate bars back on the shelf before leaving them and going back to his office.

Paolo waited until the security guy was out of sight before turning to Blaine who was looking at him strangely.

They remained in their staring contest until Blaine broke the silence.

"We really should put these back where they were," he said, as he pointed to the packets still on the floor.

Paolo nodded and together they put everything back in place. Once they were finished, they stood a bit awkwardly next to each other. Blaine did not know what to think about the other man anymore. He was about to ask him why he acted like that, but Paolo spoke first.

"I'm sorry about earlier," he said in a gruff tone, "I wanted to ask you something, okay?"

"Okay, I accept your apology," Blaine replied, "but I meant what I said before about Kurt. It's more complicated than what you may think."

"Can't you just give him another chance?" Paolo's tone turned incredulous.

The man could not fathom how someone could walk away from a guy like Kurt. Paolo had hated himself so much when he had taken the coward's way out. But back then, he had felt like leaving was the best option. He had been selfish and not a day went by where he did not regret it. With time though, he had managed to convince Kurt to let him back in his life and they had become good friends. He thought that trying again as a couple would have been a bad idea. They had talked about that possibility but, in the end, both realized the feelings they once had for each other had faded. Kurt had also confessed to Paolo that, at first, their relationship had just been a way for him to escape his failed marriage. Paolo had been there, a gorgeous man who had given Kurt attention and affection. Kurt had not denied he had been in love with Paolo but he also told him that he didn't believe they were meant to stay together. Kurt had resented Paolo for a long time after his departure so he felt a weight was being lifted from his shoulders after their talk.

Paolo had also confided in Kurt that day. He told him that he would never have considered having another lasting relationship after Carlos had left him and Clara. When he met Kurt, he had wanted to have some fun for a while. But he had not predicted that he would fall for Kurt's children or that Clara would also feel happier with Kurt's two boys. In the end, Paolo had mostly stayed because of her, to see her happy again and smile like she had not done since her other father's departure. That day, Paolo had asked Kurt if Clara could keep living with him and the boys and Kurt had accepted on the condition that Paolo would not entirely abandon his daughter. The other man had then proceeded to rent the place next to Kurt's. Luckily for him, the owner was old and needed to move in with her children. She was on good terms with Kurt, who had convinced her to rent the place to Paolo.

Paolo had walked away from Kurt but if he could start over again, he would have changed a few things. He still would have broken up with Kurt but in an amiable way. They would have both agreed to remain friends and an entire year wouldn't have gone to waste. So the man cared deeply about his ex and now good friend and he hated to see him hurting. That is why when he had spotted Blaine in the candies and chocolate section he decided that he would try to make things better for Kurt. Of course, he could have told his friend that he saw Blaine hiding against the shelves a few sections away from where they stood, but he doubted that Kurt would have gone to the other man. Actually, Paolo was convinced that his ex would have also hidden from Blaine and waited until the musician left.

"I can't do this," Blaine said dejectedly. "He knows why and I just can't…"

"Blaine?" Kurt's surprised tone interrupted the musician.

Paolo decided that this was the moment to leave the two other men alone. But Kurt glared at him as his friend started to walk away. _Don't you dare!_ Paolo could read in Kurt's eyes, but he just smiled apologetically and turned the other way.

"Paolo!" Kurt suddenly felt like killing his ex for leaving him in such a situation.

Blaine looked at Kurt's back, debating whether to stay or leave. He was still scared Paolo had not really left and would be waiting around the corner to push him back to Kurt.

When Kurt turned, Blaine was still there. Their eyes met and for a moment, both men felt the phantom feeling of what they experienced that rainy morning.

"Hi," Blaine said, breaking the silence between them.

"Hey," Kurt replied weakly. He was not sure what to say or how to start any conversation.

"It's good to see you," Blaine tried but he knew that given the circumstances of the last time they saw each other, it was the last thing to say. And yet, it was only the truth. Despite his very conflicted feelings about Kurt, it still was good to see the other man.

A low chirp came from Kurt's pocket before he could even think of saying anything else to Blaine. He took his phone out and gasped.

What happened next was too fast for Blaine to process. One moment they were both standing awkwardly, barely speaking to each other and the next, Kurt had taken him by the hand and dragged him along to continue grocery shopping. He gave Blaine one part of his list; Blaine's eyes had grown wide when he saw that Kurt had _three pages_ of items he needed to buy. Kurt then sent Blaine back in the food section and gave him ten minutes to meet him back at the frozen section.

Blaine did not have time to protest before Kurt took his shopping bag, put it in his cart and walked away leaving Blaine with his part of the list. The musician felt completely dumbfounded as he looked at the other man disappearing in the next section.

* * *

"I need more ham, Blaine, seriously, haven't you ever gone grocery shopping before?" Kurt asked, exasperated when Blaine came back from the food section with only two packets of ham. "And you did not even compare prices," the man added as he looked at what kind of brand Blaine had chosen. "This is too expensive. Also, one bottle of water won't cut it when we have three children to provide for." Kurt shook his head disapprovingly at Blaine who was at a loss for words.

The musician wanted to protest and tell Kurt that if he was not happy he should have done it himself. After all, Blaine had no obligations towards the other man. Kurt was lucky he was still there, bearing being yelled at in the middle of the frozen section.

"Okay, no, this really won't do." Kurt's tone had softened a little and he was now smiling tentatively at the other man. "Come on, I'll show you how it's done." And without warning Kurt took Blaine by the hand again and led him back to the food section. The musician tried not to think too much about how right Kurt's hand felt in his or how some part of him was enjoying the domesticity of grocery shopping together.

Blaine tried to pay attention to all that Kurt was telling him as he taught him the best ways to find the cheapest items that were still good quality. Blaine's eyes bulged out of his sockets when Kurt grabbed ten packets of ham and put them all in the trolley.

"Are you sure this isn't too much?" Blaine asked him in an incredulous tone.

"One teenage girl, two boys, one of them eating ham sandwiches twice a day, Paolo coming to steal from our fridge when his is empty," Kurt counted on his fingers. "No, I really don't think it's too much. Actually," Kurt grabbed two more packets and threw them with the others, "better safe than sorry." He turned to Blaine who was still staring at all the ham with wide eyes.

Kurt laughed softly and then they moved on to get the water; four packs of clear water and two packs of sparkling water.

At some point, Blaine suggested getting an additional shopping cart because if Kurt kept on this track, one would not be enough. Kurt nodded, a look of surprise in eyes.

It took them twenty more minutes to get all the items that were on the list before heading to the check out point. Blaine helped Kurt put everything into bags and they walked together out of the shop.

"Shit!" Kurt muttered under his breath. "I forgot that we came in Paolo's car." Kurt looked at the two carts and suddenly regretted getting so much. _How on earth was he going to take it all back to his place?_ A taxi at this time of the day would be too expensive and Kurt had not taken cash with him so, unless he was lucky and got one who accepted credit cards, he would have to take the metro. Kurt shuddered at the thought. Then, he realized that Blaine was still standing next to him, waiting for Kurt to tell him where to take his cart.

"Blaine, can I ask you a favor?" he said, looking at the musician who nodded almost imperceptibly. "Would you mind driving me back home? Paolo left. I can't see his car where he parked it and I really don't think that taking the metro is an option right now," he explained to Blaine with pleading eyes.

The musician now understood the meaning of puppy dog eyes; usually his own friends told him to stop doing that to convince them to do anything. He suddenly felt bad for using this 'weapon' on them so often; he was helpless to say no. Blaine sighed and nodded again, guiding Kurt towards the car. Lucky for them, it was not parked too far from the entrance of the shop.

Blaine helped Kurt load everything into the trunk and then he waited in the car for the other man to return the two carts. Thank god, he had not taken his own car; it would not have survived the trip filled with all of Kurt's groceries and the pots of paint. Charlotte had been all too happy to lend Blaine the car. She hoped that this meant that her son was trying to be more responsible and finally do his own grocery shopping. Blaine had not told her that he actually needed the bigger and sturdier vehicle to get paints for the show. But the musician did not feel guilty for lying to her; after all, he did end up going grocery shopping in a way. He would not tell her that either, he would never hear the end of it if he said anything about helping Kurt and then driving to his place.

Kurt came back after five minutes, muttering about some old lady who had been in his way. He sent an apologetic look at Blaine and climbed into the passenger seat.

Blaine started the car and left the parking of the _'Leclerc'._ He was too focused on the road to notice that Kurt was staring at him. The traffic was very thick at this time of the day.

Kurt leaned back in his seat and kept watching Blaine. A small smile tugged at the other man's lip as he stopped to let a woman and her two children cross the road. Kurt did not really know what to think of the musician anymore. He had tried to not dwell too much on what had happened between them since the previous morning. Kurt had stopped crying after his phone call to Noah. Resigned, he had decided to move on instead of torturing himself over what could have been. But Kurt could not have predicted that he'd see Blaine again. Well, this was not entirely true; he would probably walk past him in the corridors at work or outside just like the first time they met. But he had not thought that it would be this soon after the last time they saw each other. And now here they were both in the car. It was so similar to that first day when Blaine had given him a ride home and yet, so many things had changed.

"Thank you." Kurt broke the silence between them as Blaine took the turn to the street where the other man lived.

Blaine turned to Kurt intending to say it was nothing but his words got caught in his throat when the other man smiled softly at him. The musician smiled weakly back and then focused on parking his car near Kurt's building.

"Would you mind helping me get everything upstairs?" Kurt asked him, his fingers leaving soft trails on Blaine's bare forearm.

Blaine swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. He was not sure if going with Kurt was a wise idea. Things still felt a bit tense on his side and despite what he could be feeling for the other man, Blaine had made his decision; he couldn't have a relationship with Kurt.

The other man seemed to realize the conflict in the musician's eyes and sighed in disappointment.

"It's okay. I'll give Paolo a call. Can you please just stay until everything has been unloaded?" Kurt looked in the other direction, removing his fingers from Blaine's bare forearm. He did not wait for Blaine's answer before looking for his phone in his pocket and dialing his friend's number.

_"Salut ici c'est Paolo! Je ne suis pas disponible pour le moment mais si vous me laissez votre numéro, je vous rappellerez." _Kurt groaned as the voicemail message played. It was just his luck that Paolo had chosen not to pick up. Something told Kurt that the other man was doing this on purpose. Kurt had made the mistake to tell his friend about everything that happened with Blaine. He had also hinted at his feelings for Blaine; whining on Paolo's shoulder while telling him all possible scenarios of a reunion with Blaine had probably not helped Kurt's case either. The young man suspected that his friend had left Kurt with Blaine on purpose. He got confirmation of that when he received a text from Paolo not even a minute after Kurt had tried to call him.

* * *

**From Paolo – 16h23**

**_Je suis allé courir dans le parc. _****_Bonne chance._**

* * *

Kurt glared at his phone picturing many ways he could get back to his friend for his meddling. Next to him, Blaine cleared his throat awkwardly.

"So, erm, when is he coming down to help you with the bags?" Blaine asked, trying not to sound too annoyed. He could feel that Kurt was not pleased with something.

"He isn't. I'll just…" Kurt made a vague gesture with his hands and then got out of the car.

Blaine followed him with his eyes, not sure what was happening. He then unbuckled his seat belt and joined Kurt outside by the trunk. Kurt had already opened it and started to unload the bags. He struggled with four, trying to hold them all by himself. He could barely turn and climb the three steps of stairs to the entrance of the building before Blaine took pity of him and helped him stay upright. Kurt tried not to be distracted by the musician's strong hands near the small of his back.

"Come on, give me these two. I'll help you unload everything, it's the least I can do." Blaine took two of the bigger bags from Kurt's hands and then climbed the stairs to Kurt's apartment.

The two of them managed to get everything inside in three trips. Blaine wondered what Kurt did on days when he had this many groceries and no one to help him. He stopped that train of thought immediately, not wanting to think of scenarios when Kurt wouldn't have to do it on his own because Blaine could be there to help. _Kurt did not need him. Paolo was there, well, he was not at the moment but since the guy lived next door, surely, he usually was the one Kurt asked for help for these things, right?_

To thank Blaine, Kurt offered him a drink and some leftover cake. Blaine would have refused if he had not been brought up with manners. He was also hungry and the cake was really good.

While Kurt was unloading the bags and putting everything in its place, Blaine remained sitting in silence at the table. He had proposed his help to Kurt but the other man refused saying that Blaine had already done enough. The musician sank back in his chair, finishing the rest of the cake on his plate. After a few minutes, when it looked like Kurt was nowhere near finished with all the groceries, Blaine took one of the bags that contained toiletry items. He told Kurt that he would just put these in the bathroom and then be on his way. Kurt just hummed in response; still busy putting food in the fridge.

Blaine remembered where the bathroom was from his first night in Kurt's apartment. The door had been opened when Kurt had taken him across the corridor to Clara's bedroom. That night was still engraved in his memory, so finding the bathroom was easy for the musician. Once in the room, he put the toothpaste in the tiny closet near the sink, the toilet paper on the floor and the shampoo and shower gel at the edge of the sink. He turned, intending to leave, when he slipped on a wet spot on the floor. His first reflex was to grab the sink with his hand before falling on his butt. Unfortunately, things did not really go as planned. He managed to catch himself by grabbing the sink but the latter suddenly made an awful cracking noise and Blaine watched in horror as the porcelain was ripped from the wall. He was caught by surprise and his foot slipped further on the floor and then he fell head first on the sink, a loud noise and a pained moan could be heard just before he finished his fall. Blaine remained unmoving on the floor, his head buried in a damp towel that lay under the sink.

A few seconds later, he heard Kurt rush in the bathroom to see what the noise had came from. When he saw Blaine on the floor, he knelt at his side and helped him to gingerly sit up.

"Ow!" Blaine yelped when he was upright. His head was throbbing and he felt a bit nauseous. He hoped he would not get sick. A trip to the hospital was the last thing he needed today.

"Hush, don't worry, it doesn't look so bad." Kurt tried to sooth him. He winced in sympathy for the other man when he caught sight of the large lump that was beginning to form at the top of his forehead.

"Hurts…" Blaine wined, burying his head between Kurt's neck and shoulder.

The musician clung to Kurt, his hands gripping the other man's shirt. He felt a bit out of it, probably from the hard hit on his head. Kurt's hands were rubbing his back soothingly and he was saying words that Blaine could not really understand in his state.

Suddenly the front door to the apartment opened and Clara walked inside, leaving her school bag near the door. She headed to the bathroom where she found Kurt kneeling on the damp floor with a stranger nearly in his lap, his head hidden in Kurt's neck.

"What's going on?" she asked, startling both men on the floor.

...

To be continued...

* * *

**Translations**

_'Monsieur Bricolage' ans 'Leclerc' are both the names of shops in France. 'Monsieur Bricolage' is mainly a tool and interior-exterior design shop while 'Leclers' is a groceries store.____"Allez Kurt, tu sais bien que Clara raffole de ce truc et les garçon vont le vider en un rien de temps. Il vaut mieux en prendre trois paquets pour être sûrs,_" : Come on Kurt, you know very well that Clara really loves this stuff and that the boys are going to eat it all in the blink of an eye._"You hurt him, __connard_!" : You hurt him you bastard!___"Il y a un problème messieurs?"_ : Is there a problem gentlemen?___"Juste deux vieux potes qui se retrouvent, ne vous en faites pas monsieur,"_ : We're just two old buddies catching up. Don't worry sir.___"Vous êtes sûrs?"_ : Are you sure?___"Tout va bien Monsieur."_ : Everything's fine sir.___"Oui, nous sommes désolés pour le dérangement Monsieur,"_ : We're sorry for having bothered you sir.___"Salut ici c'est Paolo! Je ne suis pas disponible pour le moment mais si vous me laissez votre numéro, je vous rappellerez." : Hi, Paolo here! I'm not available at the moment but you leave me your number and I'll call you back. _Je suis allé courir dans le parc. _Bonne chance._**_ : _**I went running in the park. Good luck. 


	11. Chapter Ten

**_Hello !_**

**_So I was a bit evil and left you hanging with a little cliffhanger in the last chapter. Don't worry, you won't have to wait too long to find out what happened next :)_**

**_Huge thank you to my Beta who remains a great help and is also a source of inspiration and motivation! à the wonderful just-another-pipedreamer on tumblr._**

**_Also, thank you for your great comments and I was happy to see that most of you liked Paolo in the previous chapter. I really enjoy writing scenes with him and you can be sure that he will be back later on ;)_**

**_Okay, enough of my babbling, I hope you'll enjoy reading this new chapter ^^_**

**_Cynthia x_**

* * *

Clara climbed off her friend's car and thanked _Mme. Marie_ for the ride. She watched the car leave her street and then turned on her iPod while she climbed up the stairs to the apartment. She got her keys out and turned them in the lock when she realized that the door was already unlocked. _Kurt and Dad must be back from grocery shopping earlier_, she thought to herself. She opened the door and took off her shoes. She swayed softly to the rhythm of Rihanna's latest hit, on her way to the kitchen where three bags of groceries were on the table. She frowned; usually Kurt would always unload everything before doing something else.

She turned the music off and called, "Kurt, are you back already?"

She made her way down the corridor when she heard a little whimpering sound coming from the bathroom. She froze, not sure what to do. Last time she had heard that kind of sound was when she had walked in on Kurt and her dad. She did not want to experience that ever again…

Kurt seemed to be talking to someone. She recognized his soothing tone and wondered whom he was trying to comfort. Curiosity got the better of her and she finally decided to check what was going on.

She let out a little sigh of relief when she saw that Kurt was fully clothed and so was the other man who she had never seen before.

"What's going on?" she asked, making her presence known to the two men sitting on the damp floor.

Kurt raised his head and met her questioning gaze. A movement on his side indicated that Blaine had also noticed they had an intruder.

"Hey, Clara," Kurt started, his voice coming out a little squeaky and high-pitched. "Erm, this is a friend…" he trailed off uncertainly.

"My name's Blaine," the musician added helpfully. "I just gave Kurt a lift and helped him with groceries."

Blaine's head was pounding and he felt like burying his head back in the crook of Kurt's neck but for some reason, he doubted that it would be a good idea at the moment.

"Is everything alright?" Clara asked, noticing the lump that had begun to form on Blaine's forehead.

"Yes, sweetheart, don't worry," Kurt reassured her with a soft smile then he turned to Blaine and helped him get back on his feet.

Blaine felt suddenly a little dizzy and clutched at Kurt's shirt with force. The other man noticed and asked, "Are you sure you're okay?" His tone was worried. "Maybe we should get you to the hospital to check for a concussion."

Blaine shook his head firmly at that; he hated hospitals.

"No, it's fine." He tried to sound convincing but the look in Kurt's eye told him that he was not fooling him. "I've had a concussion before and trust me it doesn't feel like that at the moment." He hoped that this explanation would suffice for Kurt.

"Do you feel sick?" Kurt asked him, not wanting to let this go. "Is your vision blurry?" he pressed on, moving his hands in front of Blaine's eyes. "How many fingers can you see?"

Blaine felt warmth spread in his chest at Kurt's seemingly genuine concern. He answered with a little smile, "Three, I don't see them blurry at all, stop worrying."

"Ok," Kurt conceded, "but you're not going anywhere and you have to lie down a little, understood?"

Blaine was about to protest but he decided against it when he met Kurt's determined gaze.

"Do you need any help?" Clara asked, startling both men who had forgotten that she was still standing there.

Kurt turned to her and told her that she could prepare a bowl of cold water and a washcloth to bring to the living room. She nodded and went back to the kitchen.

Kurt helped Blaine to the living room. The musician tried not to lean too heavily on the other man, not wanting to alert Kurt. He was convinced that he did not have a concussion but that did not exclude the slight dizziness he felt at the moment and he could barely stand on his two feet. At the frown Kurt gave him when he settled Blaine on the couch, he knew that Kurt was still thinking about going to the hospital.

"I can ask my friend Tina to check on me if that would put your worry to rest." Kurt looked at him, confused. "I mean, she's a doctor so I can go see her later today or tomorrow morning."

"That would be wise of you," Kurt said, trying not to let Blaine hear his relieved sigh.

Both men remained silent after that, staring at each other, their thoughts filled with questions and possibilities. Blaine was about to say something but the moment broke when Clara walked in the room. Kurt took that as an opportunity to get up and take the bowl and washcloth from her hands.. He laid them down on the small coffee table and brought a chair near Blaine. Avoiding the musician's gaze, he took the cloth and wringed it out a little so that he would not have water dripping everywhere. Then, he placed it gently on Blaine's forehead. The other man sighed at the soothing sensation. He let his eyelids close and a relaxed smile appeared on his face.

Clara, who was still in the doorway, looked at them both, her head tilted to one side. She was less and less convinced that Blaine was just a friend to Kurt. She knew that look on the young man's face. She had seen it before, when her dad was still dating Kurt. But this was more, she realized, Kurt's concern was so clear on his features. It reminded her of times when the boys were ill or hurt. Kurt had worn that worried expression when her dad had left a year ago. This was more than just concern for a friend, this was Kurt being caring and loving.

The teenage girl kept observing them. Once again, both men seemed to have forgotten she was there. Her gaze flicked to Blaine's face, content and relaxed. When his eyes fluttered open, she knew that she was right. Blaine clearly cared for Kurt if the way his gaze lingered on Kurt's face was any indication. She also noticed that Blaine was tracing little patterns on the back of Kurt's hand, which was holding the cloth in place.

She decided to leave them alone, feeling as if she was intruding.

Kurt barely noticed Clara leaving the room, his attention fully on Blaine. His skin was tingling under the soft caress of Blaine's fingers. Kurt wondered if Blaine was even aware of what he was doing. Kurt wanted to say something but he felt reluctant to break the calm between them. It was not the first time that Blaine made him feel this serene, sharing something so simple and yet intimate. Kurt knew how dangerous that train of thought was. He had to be careful; he recalled his conversation with Noah. But Kurt wanted. He wanted this so much that he could not bring himself to ask Blaine to stop. He couldn't remove his hand either, though the cloth was now lukewarm and Kurt should get it cool again.

At that moment, the doorbell rang and Kurt heard Clara rush down the corridor to open the door. Carole's voice echoed in the hallway outside the apartment. Kurt reluctantly removed his hand from underneath Blaine's who let out an adorable noise of protest. Kurt plunged the cloth in the cool water, wrung it and then placed it back on the musician's forehead. Kurt then stood up and strode outside the living room to go greet his stepmother.

"Hello Kurt, how are you?" the woman asked him after releasing him from a hug. "You seem a little tired," she added when she got a closer look at the man she considered her second son. Kurt had no time to answer though because Sammy rushed to his feet and attempted to climb up and get in his father's arms.

_"Papa! Papa!"_ The little boy tried to get Kurt's attention.

_"Viens-là toi."_ Kurt scooped to pick him up and hugged him tight, the head of the little boy finding its favorite place in the crook of Kurt's neck. _"Tu m'as manqué,"_ Kurt whispered in the soft curls that tickled his shin.

_"Toi aussi"_ Sammy replied, his words a bit muffled by Kurt's skin.

"And did you miss _me_?" Simon had appeared next to his father, looking up teasingly.

"Of course I missed you, too," Kurt answered him with a smile and ruffling the soft hair of his older son.

Clara helped Carole bring all of the boys' toys and Sammy's supply bag to the kitchen. Both boys followed their grandmother, saying that they would get their toys to their room.

Kurt walked to the living room to check on Blaine. The man was still lying on the couch with his eyes closed. Kurt wanted to sit back next to him but Clara and Carole called to him and he joined them in the kitchen.

Blaine had kept his eyes shut when he sensed Kurt coming back. He hoped that whoever that woman was, she would not come in the living room. He cursed himself for his clumsiness because now he was stuck here and, from the sound of it, all of Kurt's kids were in the apartment and it was only a matter of time before they'd find Blaine, leading to a number of questions that he was sure neither Kurt nor himself were ready to answer. Blaine tried to relax and ignore the fear starting to creep up at the thought.

Kurt and Carole chatted animatedly while Clara, Simon, and Sammy were playing in the boy's room. Carole told Kurt that she was invited to Finn's place to meet his new girlfriend. She did not sound too enthused at the idea which made Kurt laugh. He wished her luck as he walked her back to the door. He called the boys and Clara so they could say goodbye to their grandmother. Once she left, all three returned to their previous occupations leaving Kurt alone in the corridor pondering what to do about Blaine. There was no way he would allow the other man to drive back home in his state but he also knew that Blaine was unlikely to accept staying for dinner.

He was pulled out his thoughts when an unfamiliar ringtone was heard from the living room. He walked to the sound and saw Blaine struggling to get his phone out off his pocket. Kurt took pity of him and helped him reach for it.

"Hello?" Blaine answered, his voice slightly weak. The musician frowned at nothing in particular as the other person on the line seemed to be yelling at him.

After a minute of this, Kurt had enough and grabbed Blaine's phone from his hand with a plan to tell whoever was scolding Blaine to stop.

"… seriously Blaine, sometimes I wonder if you're serious about this! We need the paint now so you better bring your sweet ass over here before…"

"Hello, this is Kurt," he interrupted the yelling man on the other end, "I am a friend of Blaine's and right now he can't talk to you." Kurt's tone became louder but the other man was not finished apparently.

"Look, I have no idea who you are but I'm Blaine's best friend and right now he needs to come deliver all the paint he was supposed to buy this afternoon…"

"Would you just listen for one second," Kurt started to get annoyed, "Blaine can't come right now, he is no state to drive and if you really want your paint then you should come get it because I won't let Blaine drive for another couple of hours."

"Hello?" A different, calmer voice could be heard and Kurt hoped that this man would not be as stubborn as the first one.

"Kurt, I probably should go…" Blaine started saying but one look at Kurt's determined face was enough to shut him up.

"My name's Mike," the other man on the phone said, "I was the one who asked Blaine to get the paint but from what Sebastian understood, he can't bring it at the moment. The thing is, we really need it right now so could you please give me your address so I can come get it?"

"Sure, no problem," Kurt answered and then gave Mike the directions to get to his place. "My name is Hummel, just ring the bell so you can come up get the keys to the car."

"Thank you Kurt. I'll be there in ten minutes, tops. Oh, and I'm sorry about Sebastian," he added before hanging up.

Kurt gave the phone back to Blaine who thanked him for handling this so smoothly.

"Sebastian's an ass," Kurt said after a few seconds of silence.

Blaine laughed, "He can be sometimes, yeah. But he's my best friend. It's the show, it's driving him mad."

"Whatever you say." Kurt thought it best not to protest. After all, he did not know Sebastian but he had a weird feeling that the other man knew who he was. His tone had turned even more unpleasant when Kurt said his name.

"At least Mike seems like a decent man," Kurt said to Blaine with a smile.

"Yeah, he's the best guy I know. Such a shame he is straight and attached to the hip to my other good friend, Tina," Blaine admitted with a laugh. "Those _abs_," he added, his gaze meeting Kurt's.

Kurt let out a small chuckle.

Mike arrived only eight minutes later. Kurt buzzed him inside and he led Blaine's friend to the living room.

"Oh man, what happened to you?" he asked, teasingly pointing at the lump on the musician's forehead. "You look like you fought something hard and lost the battle."

"Shut up!" Blaine replied playfully then explained how he had engaged in a losing battle with the sink in Kurt's bathroom and how it had not played fair with a surprise attack of ripping off the wall.

"Ouch," Mike said, unable to stop laughing at his friend's misfortune.

They stayed like that, joking back and forth, before Kurt cleared his throat and Blaine reached in his pockets for the keys to his mother's car.

"The paint is in the trunk. I hope I bought enough, but if not I can go back on Monday if you need me to," Blaine said to his friend.

"No, it's fine, I doubt my parents have another visit planned so soon and Tina's are still on a cruise in Greece. I can go if I need more."

"Okay," Blaine answered.

"Don't you want me to drive you home?" Mike asked him.

"Erm…" Blaine looked in Kurt's direction. The other man was leaning on the wall opposite him.

"Unless you had planned to stay?" Mike noticed the two men exchanging looks and smiled to himself. _Oh Blaine, my friend, you've got it bad…_

"It's just that I need to drive the car back to my mom so I'd better stay until I'm fit to drive again." Blaine did not dare meet his friend's gaze, knowing full well that if he did, Mike would know it was just an excuse to stay at Kurt's.

_Wait until I tell this to Tina! _Mike thought to himself.

"Alright, then maybe Kurt can walk down with me to the car so he can get the keys back to you."

"Sure," Blaine replied with a thankful nod.

Mike clapped his friend on the shoulder and then followed Kurt outside.

After Mike's departure, Blaine allowed himself a short nap. It was useless to fight it now. He still felt dizzy and sleep would do him good.

When Kurt was back, he saw that Blaine was fast asleep. He walked slowly to him and laid the car keys on the table near the musician. Then Kurt turned back and closed the door quietly behind him.

Two hours later, Blaine woke up feeling slightly disoriented. He looked around him and remembered where he was. _So much for staying away_, he thought to himself when he realized that he was still at Kurt's.

Blaine slowly sat up, glad he no longer felt dizzy. He pocketed the car keys and made his way out the living room. In the corridor, he could hear the boys playing in their room. There was also a popular song playing in the background. As Blaine walked in the direction of the kitchen, he stopped in his tracks.

_Yeah, you got that something  
I think you'll understand  
When I say that something  
I wanna hold your hand  
I wanna hold your hand  
I wanna hold your hand_

Blaine walked closer to the closed door leading to the kitchen. He strained his ear, unwilling to miss one second of Kurt singing.__

And when I touch you I feel happy, inside  
It's such a feeling that my love  
I can't hide  
I can't hide  
I can't hide

Yeah, you got that something  
I think you'll understand  
When I feel that something  
I wanna hold your hand  
I wanna hold your hand  
I wanna hold your hand  
I wanna hold your ha-a-a-a-a-a-and

When the song came to an end, Blaine immediately missed the pure and clear sound of Kurt's voice. He had goose bumps all over his body. His breath had caught in his chest when Kurt had sung the last note. Blaine loved the Beatles' version of the song but Kurt's felt so raw and strong. He was sure that had the other man known someone was listening to him, his voice would have sounded different, more guarded.

Blaine was about to knock on the door softly when it suddenly opened leaving the two men facing each other. Kurt let out a little squeaky sound and stumbled into Blaine who caught him before he fell.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Blaine said, as he removed his hand from Kurt's waist and took a step backwards. "I was just going to say goodbye and thank you but then I heard you and…"

Kurt was now avoiding his gaze, a blush creeping up from his neck to his cheeks.

"You heard that?" his voice was small and this confirmed what Blaine had been thinking about Kurt only singing for himself and not an audience.

"Yeah, I'm sorry… I just…" Blaine stammered, also avoiding Kurt's gaze. "You sound amazing," he let out with a breath.

"Thanks." Kurt did not look up but Blaine could see a small smile forming on his lips.

Blaine was suddenly taken by the urge to kiss him but decided against it.

"I should go," he said instead.

At that, Kurt finally looked up. Disappointment flashed in his eyes.

"I thought…" he trailed off nervously. "It's just…I made dinner while you were sleeping and I thought that you would join us?" he finished with a hopeful tone.

"Kurt…" Blaine started but Kurt did not let him finish.

"I've made too much for just the children and me. Consider it a way to say thank you your help this afternoon." Kurt's eyes met Blaine's who felt his resolve weakening.

Blaine hesitated for another long minute before sighing in defeat, but he could not help the little smile tugging at his lips when Kurt grabbed him by the hand and led him inside the kitchen.

Blaine felt so at ease while helping Kurt set the table but it did not last. A few minutes later, Kurt called the children to the kitchen and suddenly Blaine wanted to leave.

Unfortunately for him, Kurt was blocking his way to the door and then the three children arrived and sat at the table. Kurt went to Sammy to help him sit properly and Blaine saw it as an opportunity to take the coward's way out. But then, he met Clara's gaze and it was like she knew his intention; she just shook her head and pointed to the empty chair next to her.

Blaine had no time for an escape when Kurt was done with Sammy and handed Blaine one of the plates to put on the table. Then they both sat, facing each other. Kurt smiled encouragingly at him and Blaine felt a little less scared.

At first, dinner was awkward. No one was talking and Blaine and Sammy kept exchanging glares over their plates. The food was delicious though, and at least the musician could compliment Kurt on it.

When their plates were nearly empty, the atmosphere changed, the tension already fading away by the middle of the meal.

Clara told everyone about her day at her friend's and how great it was that it was finally holidays. Then Kurt asked the boys how things had been with Grandma Carole and both of them started to talk about the little cakes they had baked all afternoon. Well, Simon had helped and Sammy had mostly eaten everything in sight. They laughed when Simon told them about Sammy eating the chocolate and how as a result there was not enough left for the last batch of cookies so they had to mix white chocolate to have the right amount for the recipe.

Simon seemed to be fascinated by Blaine, asking many questions about why he was there, and if his forehead hurt really bad like the last time he had knocked his own head on the wall. He also wanted to know if Blaine had a talent because Simon was in a phase during which he was looking for special talent in ordinary people. Kurt blamed the program _La France a incroyable talent_; his son loved to watch the show every Tuesday when it was on TV.

Kurt wanted to tell his son not to bother Blaine but to his astonishment, the musician played along and showed them all a little magic trick that his dad had taught him and his older brother when they were still young. Blaine took his empty glass and put it at the edge of the table. Then he leaned forward and pretended to sneeze and a few coins fell in the glass. Kurt laughed at how wide Simon's eyes had gotten.

"Wow! Can you teach me that?" he asked excitedly, bringing his own empty glass closer.

"Well, it's a family secret but maybe I can make an exception." He winked at the boy who grinned widely.

Kurt looked on at the exchange and felt hope fill his heart.

But things were going too well and Kurt should have expected that it wouldn't last.

Sammy, who had been glaring at Blaine throughout dinner, pushed his plate away from him, spilling his still full glass, emptying all its content on the table and some of it landed on Clara and Blaine's lap.

_"Toi t'es méchant!"_ Sammy said, looking in Blaine's direction.

The musician did not know how to react. He excused himself and followed Clara to the bathroom to clean his pants.

Kurt watched him leave the room, wanting to say something but not finding the words. But he had no time to think about it because Sammy and Simon started playing with the water on the table, making an even bigger mess. Kurt scolded them both and demanded that they go to their room. Sammy started crying, repeating "_C'est un méchant_" over and over again until Kurt had enough and asked Clara to look after the two boys while he cleaned the table and did the dishes.

He was so engrossed with scrubbing the table that he did not notice Blaine coming back from the bathroom. He kept muttering about bad luck under his breath and how things had gone so well before it all went to hell.

"Do you need help?" Blaine finally asked, as Kurt was rinsing the plates and loading them in the dishwasher.

Kurt turned to him, startled. _How long has he been here?_ he asked himself.

"With the dishes, I mean," Blaine said.

"It's okay, I can manage, thank you," Kurt answered, turning his back to him and focusing on what he was doing.

"Okay…" Blaine trailed off, unsure what to do. "I probably should… go then."

"I'm really sorry," Kurt turned back to him. "I don't know what came over Sammy for saying such a thing to you but I feel horrible and I'll teach him that you're not a bad man," Kurt babbled, walking around the table and scrubbing the cloth that was already clean.

"Kurt, it's okay," Blaine started saying but the other man ignored him and scrubbed even harder. The musician walked to him and took the sponge out of his hand. "Kurt, stop," he said gently, laying the sponge out of Kurt's reach. "You don't need to apologize. It's not your fault."

"Doesn't change the fact that I feel bad about it," Kurt muttered under his breath, not meeting Blaine's gaze.

"Look, Kurt, you know that I don't like kids so I can't expect them to like me in return." Blaine's tone was light, nothing like that night when he had confessed to Kurt his opinions on children. "I mean, maybe, little Sammy just remembered how I treated him that night you asked me to look after him. I was terrible."

That got a laugh from Kurt. He lifted his head and met Blaine's playful gaze. The sight of it filled him hope. _Maybe they could do this. _

"Sammy has an amazing visual memory," Kurt finally said, "it's possible that he remembered you fearing him like he was some kind of fierce predator." Kurt chuckled as he recalled that night. Blaine had looked ridiculous.

Blaine attempted to glare at Kurt but his laugh broke out of him and then they were both laughing, their breath coming up short.

"He'll get over it," Kurt finally said when they both calmed down.

Blaine smiled and nodded.

"How are you feeling by the way?" Kurt asked Blaine as he took a step closer to the musician. He trailed his fingers softly above the lump on Blaine's forehead. Blaine's eyes fluttered close at the gentle caress. He winced a little when Kurt unintentionally pressed a little too hard.

"Sorry," Kurt whispered, his breath hot on Blaine's cheekbone.

"It's okay," Blaine answered.

The musician opened his eyes and realized how close their faces were. If he moved just a little towards Kurt, their lips would brush together. Kurt seemed to have come to the same realization and his eyes drifted to Blaine's mouth. He licked his lips and all of Blaine's resolve turned to dust.

Their lips met softly at first, both men not wanting to rush it. This kiss felt so different from their previous ones. The first time had been filled with want mixed with passion. The second time, lust had taken over and kisses had not been enough. But this was different.

Blaine brought his hand to Kurt's jaw, his fingers caressing over the faint stubble there. Kurt's hands had moved to Blaine's slim waist, his fingers gripping at the fabric and pulling Blaine's shirt out of his pants. Blaine's tongue traced Kurt's bottom lip, adding a little pressure to get him to open his mouth. Kurt let out a little whine as he did so, his tongue meeting Blaine's halfway.

Blaine felt a little shiver because Kurt's fingers were still wet from the sponge and they had found their way underneath his shirt. Kurt's heart was beating fast and his head was spinning. He did not want to ever stop kissing Blaine.

It ended too soon. Both of them were out of breath and Blaine could feel Kurt's heartbeat through his fingers on Kurt's neck. Kurt looked him in the eye; searching for answers Blaine couldn't give him yet.

"What are we doing?" Kurt asked, resting his forehead against Blaine's temple, mindful of not putting any pressure on his lump. He breathed deep, his arms tightening their grip on Blaine's waist, not wanting to let go.

"I…" Blaine did not know. He wanted to tell Kurt that they should get back to kissing each other but he knew that he could not do that. He took both of Kurt's hand in his and brought them to his mouth. He kissed the tip of Kurt's fingers and then lowered his hands again but he did not let go.

"I don't know, Kurt," he replied honestly.

"Where does that leave us?" Kurt needed to know. He felt so vulnerable and prayed that Blaine would not break his heart, because that's exactly what would happen if he left again. Kurt had fallen for the musician and he knew that getting over his feelings would be unbelievably hard.

"Give me time?" Blaine asked, meeting Kurt's gaze meaningfully. "I can't make any promises right now."

Kurt tried not to feel too much hope. He could not allow himself to do that, not yet.

It took another minute for Kurt to give his answer, his hands still held tightly in Blaine's, their noses bumping together as Blaine waited. Then, almost imperceptibly, Kurt nodded slowly, leaning closer to capture Blaine's lips in a tender kiss, hoping that Blaine could sense what Kurt was feeling for him.

As their lips parted, Blaine murmured, "I'll call you."

He let go of Kurt's hands and walked out the kitchen.

After Blaine closed the door to Kurt's apartment, he leaned his head on the cool wood, closing his eyes. It was clear now that whatever was between Kurt and him, he could no longer ignore it. He needed to talk to someone and he knew just the right person.

To be continued

* * *

**Translation and Chapter end notes :**

- _"Viens- là toi." _: Come here you

- _"Tu m'as manqué," / "Toi aussi" _: I missed you / I missed you too.

- _"Toi t'es méchant!" / "C'est un méchant" _: You're mean ! / He's a bad guy

Little explanation as to why Carole was speaking in English to Kurt. Carole is French. When Kurt and Marc adopted Simon, he only talked English and just a little of French. Simon was born in an English-speaking area in South Africa. Then, when he was two, he was sent to England where he stayed for a few more years in an orphanage before Kurt and Marc got the rights to adopt him.

When Sammy was born, Kurt and Mark had already put in place the rule to speak both languages so that they could be fluent as they grow up.

Burt (when he was still alive) and Carole both made an effort to speak English with their grandsons. This is why, in that chapter Carole talks in English.

Same rule applies to Clara.

About Blaine's little accident; he doesn't have a concussion. He hit his head pretty hard on the sink but there were no serious damages.

Tina is a pediatrician and works in a hospital. Blaine tends to go to her when things like that happen to him (yep it happens quite often, hence why Mike is mocking him instead of being worried.)

Paolo does not make an appearance in this chapter because he was still running and later he had to go back to the studios to work on a few scenes in the little TV show he's starring in.


	12. Chapter Eleven

**_Dear readers,_**

**_First of all, I wish you all a very happy new year and all the best for 2013._**

**_Secondly, I'm really sorry it took so long to update this story… If you're a Merlin fan and you ship Merthur, you will understand that I had to go through mourning for one of my favorite characters and the end of a show that has been in my life for five years… That's why I really had a block for doing something other than Merlin related things._**

**_I want to reassure you though that I've already started and nearly finished chapter 12 so the next update should not take as long._**

**_I hope you will enjoy reading this new chapter. Thank you again for the lovely reviews :)_**

**_Cynthia x_**

* * *

As Blaine rushed down the stairs, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked to see who had texted him. He smiled when he saw the name of the sender.

**From Kurt – 21h26**

**Please text or call me when you've arrived home. **

Blaine felt warmth spread inside of him at the other man worrying about him. He was just about to type a reply when he heard a door open above him. A few seconds later, Kurt, wrapped in a light jacket, was rushing down the stairs to join him.

Blaine looked at him with amusement in his eyes.

"Missing me already?" he asked in a teasing tone.

"Shut up," Kurt tried in vain to hide his blush, "I just came down to tell you that I've just called a taxi for you. He should be here in a few minutes."

"Kurt, there really was no need," Blaine said softly. He was much better and felt confident enough to drive.

"Look, you can come back and get your car tomorrow morning; don't worry, this street is safe."

Blaine tried to argue that the car wasn't his and that he had to return it but Kurt didn't let him continue.

"Does your mother need her car tomorrow morning?" Kurt asked him.

Blaine stopped to think for a moment. Usually on Sundays his mother liked to stay in or have friends over.

"No, but…"

"Then you can come back tomorrow to get it, right?"

Blaine's shoulder sagged in defeat but a small smile tugged at his lips and Kurt knew that the musician was not mad at him.

"It's just that I don't want you to risk hurting yourself further, and you haven't even seen a doctor yet for your head…"

Blaine stepped closer to Kurt and interrupted him, gently placing his hands on Kurt's shoulders.

"Okay, I'll take the taxi. I'll see Tina tomorrow and she can check on me." Kurt seemed to relax after that. "You don't have to worry too much though, I'm fine." He smiled reassuringly at the other man.

"Okay," Kurt said, feeling relieved. "I should probably head upstairs to check that the boys are not making a mess in their room," he added, slight regret in his tone.

Blaine smiled and nodded but Kurt seemed reluctant to leave. _This_, the hallway, both of them standing near the front door, it all reminded him of a similar scene that happened the day before. But things were different now, or at least, Kurt hoped that they were.

Blaine seemed to have picked on Kurt's train of thought and he leaned in to lay a soft and tender kiss at the corner of Kurt's lips.

The sound of a car pulling over outside the building, made them break apart.

"I think your taxi has arrived," Kurt whispered with regret.

Blaine nodded, his nose brushing softly against Kurt's nose. He laid one last peck on the other man's cheek and turned to leave.

Kurt stayed in the hallway until the light went out and the sound of the car faded away. He then felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he took it out to read the incoming text.

**From Blaine – 21h38**

**Do you still want me to text you when I'm home?**

Kurt couldn't help the small chuckle. He really liked this playful side of Blaine.

**From Kurt – 21h40**

**I'd love that. **

Kurt hoped he hadn't been too forward. Blaine may not even be waiting for a reply. He tried to stop thinking about it too much and climbed the stairs to get back to his apartment. Once inside, his phone lit up again.

**From Blaine – 21h46**

**Ok then I will :)**

Kurt smiled as he read.

**From Blaine – 21h47**

**And you can stop worrying now.**

Kurt laughed and typed a response.

**From Kurt – 21h47**

**No promises but I'll try.**

No more text came after that and Kurt decided to go back to the living room to tidy things a little. He took the bowl of now lukewarm water and the washcloth and put them in the kitchen. After he was done putting the covers in place on the couch, he headed to the boy's bedroom to check on them. He was pleasantly surprised to see that both Simon and Samuel were already tucked in and Clara was reading a story for them.

Kurt tried not to let the sight of the mess that the boys had made with their toys damper his mood. Instead, he decided to let them be for now; they would clear it all away the next morning.

Kurt then headed to the bathroom where the sink was still on the floor and, to his horror, found water had leaked almost everywhere. He sighed and went to get a mop to get most of it. Then, he went to Paolo to ask him to try to fix it. After arguing with his ex over getting a professional to repair the sink, which Kurt won by pointing out no one could come until Monday, Paolo agreed to do his best as long as Kurt hired a "real" plumber later to double-check the repairs.

Kurt left the bathroom and walked to the living room where Clara was watching one of her favorite TV shows. She looked up at him as he sat on the couch.

"Thank you for putting the boys to bed, Clara," Kurt said with a smile. The day had been long and eventful and he was really tired now.

They both watched the TV in silence until the commercial break. Clara then turned to him with a gleam in her eyes. Kurt was not sure he liked that look.

"So, Blaine seems like a good man. He's funny and Simon couldn't stop babbling about him earlier."

Kurt lowered his head to avoid her gaze and hide his smile. It was nice to hear that Blaine had made a good impression on them earlier.

"Are we going to see more of him around?" she asked, curious to know.

Kurt remained silent, not sure what to tell her. Things had gone quite well with Blaine during the evening. He had even joked about Sammy's rejection. But Kurt couldn't say if Blaine would be back. There was no guarantee even though the musician had promised he would call him.

"Kurt?" Clara noticed his hesitation to answer her question.

"I don't know yet, Clara. I wish I could say that Blaine will be around a lot more but I can't."

The teenage girl's smile faltered a little. She came to sit next to Kurt and put her hands on his.

"Well, for what is worth, I hope he will."

Kurt beamed softly at her.

"Me too." He said and she smiled back at him.

* * *

Nick groaned as he got up from the couch and walked to the front door. He hoped that the insistent ringing of the bell would not wake Jeff. His boyfriend had to be up early the next morning and he really needed his sleep. It took him another long minute to find the keys; during which whoever was in the hallway rang the bell twice more. Finally, Nick managed to pull the door open. He glared at Blaine and silently gestured for him to come inside. He led the musician to the living room and then closed the door behind them.

"Nick, I really need to talk to Jeff…" Blaine started but stopped at the look his friend sent him.

"Jeff is already in bed, he has to get up at 4 a.m. tomorrow and there is no way I'm waking him up now. Whatever you have to tell him can wait."

Blaine slumped in defeat on the couch.

Nick's expression softened as he took a good look at his friend. It looked like Blaine had been running his hands in his hair repeatedly if the way his curls were straining in all directions was any indication. There was also a lump on his forehead where the skin had turned tones of blue and purple.

"What happened to you?" Nick asked, pointing at Blaine's bruise, sudden concern in his tone.

"That's nothing," Blaine shrugged.

"Okay…" Nick trailed off uncertainly, "so what was it that you wanted to talk about?"

"I…" Blaine started, but then buried his face in his hands leaving the rest of the sentence muffled in his palms.

Nick leaned back on the armchair and waited for his friend to pull himself together. Clearly this was something important or he would not have bothered coming.

Blaine remained in his position for another long minute, debating whether or not to talk to Nick. He then raised his head and looked at his friend.

"Shit… I think I may be falling in love." And he buried his face back in his hands.

He had said it. For days, he had tried to ignore the little voice telling him it was happening. Now that the words were out there, he suddenly felt lighter. He still had no idea what to do but at least he was now facing the truth.

Nick tried to contain a smile. He looked at Blaine with slight amusement as the other man kept mumbling incoherent sentences in his hands.

"Blaine?" He stood up and sat next to his friend. "Look at me."

Blaine moved slowly, turning his head to meet Nick's gaze.

"Is it Kurt?" his friend asked him.

Blaine's mouth gaped open in surprise.

"How did you…?" Then the thought came to him that Jeff must have told his boyfriend about Kurt.

"Well, Jeff and Tina were going on about him the other night after you left. Tina said that she had tricked Kurt with her drunk-texting and somehow it had worked to get you to see him again," Nick explained.

"Right… I forgot about that." Blaine leaned back on the back of the couch and closed his eyes for a minute.

"So, you like him then?" Nick probed, gently bumping his shoulder.

"I…," Blaine knew that there was no need denying it after his first confession. "Yeah, I do. A lot." He couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips.

Nick beamed at him.

"That's a good thing, right?" he asked enthusiastically.

"I guess… it's just…" Blaine leaned forward and ran his hands in his hair, leaving his curls in a worst state than they already were. "I asked Jeff not to tell anyone about this but…" He fidgeted with his fingers, still hesitating to share this with Nick. "It's not _just_ Kurt," he finally said.

Nick frowned in confusion.

"Is there another man?" he asked his friend with disbelief in his tone.

"No, that's not what I meant. Well, you could say that there are but for Kurt, not me," he started babbling gesturing wildly with his hands as he went on, "I mean, Kurt had two other men in his life but he's not with them anymore…"

Nick was starting to develop a slight headache as he tried to understand what his friend was trying to explain.

"What the hell are you trying to say? You've lost me after _Kurt had two other men._"

"Children." Blaine simply answered. "Kurt has kids, three of them actually."

"Wow." Nick was stunned. This was not what he expected. "Three?"

"Yes. Well, two are his, they're boys. The third one is not technically his but she lives with him so…"

"Right."

Nick was at loss for words. He knew that Blaine couldn't stand children. It was common knowledge among their group of friends. How many times had Blaine joked about not hanging out with Tina and Mike if they had kids? Nick also remembered that time, when Blaine had to do some babysitting and days afterwards was still having nightmares about it.

"Does Kurt know what you think about children?" Nick asked him gently.

"He knows. I told him after he asked me to look after the younger of his two boys."

"And what did he say?"

"I don't remember much of that night to be honest," he trailed off, looking up at Jeff who was smiling knowingly at him. "No, we did not have sex afterwards, I mean, we did the next morning but… still, that's not the point."

Both men remained silent for a few minutes.

"But you like him," Nick finally said.

Blaine just nodded.

Nick did not know what to say. He almost considered waking up Jeff for help but decided against it. His boyfriend would not be happy if he did that.

"Would you have agreed to be with Jeff if it meant accepting something that you always told yourself you would never have in your life?" Blaine looked tired and so lost. He was convinced that if he gave it a chance, maybe things would turn out for the best. But he was also scared.

"It can be worth it Blaine." Nick rubbed his friend's shoulder to comfort him. "So, this is what you have to ask yourself: Is Kurt worth it?"

Blaine blinked at his friend. He thought back to their kiss earlier that evening, the strong connection he had felt when Kurt had tugged him closer. He also recalled the dinner with Kurt and the children. Blaine had wanted to flee at first but then he had stayed and things had gone almost smoothly. He had been surprised to find out that he enjoyed listening to Clara and the boys telling them about their day. He even had fun when he showed off his trick. But Kurt's smile at him from across the table had made the biggest mark on him that evening. Blaine no longer felt so intimidated anymore. Maybe he _could_ do this.

And so Blaine knew the answer to Nick's question.

"Yes, he is," he breathed out the words.

Nick smiled at him and then engulfed him in a long hug.

_I promise you, he will be_, Nick wanted to say but kept the words to himself.

* * *

Later, on his way home, Blaine pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed his mother's number.

"Blaine?" He heard her worried voice on the other end of the line and felt a little guilty for not having called her earlier. He was supposed to have brought her car in the afternoon after all.

"Hey mom, before you say anything, I'm fine, no accident to worry about," he said in a rush as he crossed the street and took a turn to the left.

"You could have at least texted me to warn me that you weren't coming today," she scolded him over the phone.

"I'm sorry, Mama, I left the car at a friend's and I'll get it back tomorrow."

"What friend?" she immediately demanded to know.

Charlotte had no problem with Blaine's friends but she hardly trusted where some of them lived. She did not want to find her car in a vandalized state.

"Don't worry, he lives on a safe street. I'll bring you the car tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Who is this friend?" Charlotte was now peaked by curiosity. None of Blaine's friends she knew lived in safe neighborhoods. And some of them had no parking space available on their street. She only agreed to lend Blaine the car because he could park it in a private garage near his building.

Blaine had feared that she would ask him that.

"It's Kurt, you met him briefly the other day," he said speaking fast, hoping she would not remember.

_No such luck._

"You mean that guy you hooked up with?"

She now sounded very interested in the conversation and Blaine would be damned if he told her about how he had helped Kurt with his groceries and stayed there for dinner afterwards. No, that was something that Blaine would definitely not share with her.

"Look, Mom, I have to go, I'll talk to you tomorrow morning."

"Blaine, I wasn't finished." She tried to keep him on the line. "Why were you at Kurt's?"

_Oh, I'm definitely not answering this. _

"I have to go. Bye Mama, see you tomorrow." He hung up before she could say another word. He knew that she would give him hell the next morning for that but at the moment he did not care. He looked for his keys in his pocket and let himself inside the loft.

He took off his jacket and then typed a quick text to Kurt.

**From Blaine – 22h49**

**I'm sorry for texting so late. Don't worry, I got home safe. I was at a friend's until now.**

He waited a couple of minutes before his phone vibrated.

**From Kurt – 22h51**

**Thank you for remembering to text me :)**

Blaine smiled at the small screen

**From Blaine – 22h53**

**No problem. I'll call you tomorrow. Goodnight Kurt.**

Blaine climbed the stairs to his room and lay down on the bed. He felt his phone come to life near his head and picked it up to read Kurt's reply.

**From Kurt – 22h57**

**Sounds good to me. And don't forget to let me know what Tina said about your injury. **

**From Kurt – 22h59**

**And good night to you too.**

Blaine was too exhausted to get up. He remained on his bed and let himself drift off to sleep. Even though the day had emotionally drained him, he felt content now. And if he dreamt of Kurt that night, well, no one but him would know.

* * *

On Sunday morning, Richard drove to Marc's house with news. The maid let him in and guided him inside the living room, telling him to wait for Mr. Ericksen to arrive.

Richard thanked her and sat on the sofa. He then grabbed the file that contained the news he wanted to share with his friend.

Marc arrived five minutes later. He greeted the other man and then asked him the reason for his visit so early on a Sunday.

"I have something to show you that you'll probably find interesting," Richard said, as he took two photographs out of the file and laid them on the coffee table.

The first was of a man that Marc vaguely recognized. He was walking down a busy street with some kind of folder in his arms. His hair was dark brown and curly. He was on the phone and whatever he had heard made him smile. The photograph was a bit blurry but Marc was almost certain that the man was one of his employees. After staring long enough at the picture, Marc knew exactly who the man was.

The second photograph had been taken outside of a restaurant. Marc had no difficulty recognizing his ex-husband. But Kurt was not alone on the picture. The same man from the previous photo was sitting at the same table and they both looked like they were on a date.

"This was taken a couple nights ago." Richard said, pointing at the second photograph. "The man is Blaine Anderson; you probably recognize him. I've been following Kurt over the past week since you've told me that you noticed something different in his attitude. I had also run into him on Wednesday morning when he was late for the meeting. I could immediately sense something shifty in the way he acted that morning."

Marc remained silent as his friends kept describing what he knew about Blaine and his relationship with Kurt. Apparently the two had seen each other a couple of times over the past week.

"On Thursday, right after their date," Richard pointed at the second photograph, "I followed them and they were both heading to Kurt's apartment. I have no idea if he stayed the night but Anderson did not leave while I was waiting outside."

Marc reached for the first picture and held it close to his face. Then he took the second one and observed the content look on Kurt's face. He put the two pictures back on the table and looked at his friend.

"If he's getting too close to the boys, I'll have to talk to Kurt about it."

"Of course," Richard agreed, barely hiding his malicious smile. He might finally succeed in hurting Kurt the way he had been hurt when Marc chose Kurt over Richard, his best friend, after years of waiting for Marc's homophobic grandfather to die so Marc could come out without risk of losing his inheritance, _Ericksen: Art et Divertissement_. Richard had hidden his true feelings and his pain for Marc's benefit, but once Kurt cheated and hurt Marc, Richard eagerly awaited his chance to punish Kurt.

"I want you to keep following them for a few more days. Try to find more about that man and see how we could turn this situation to our advantage." Marc's demanding tone broke Richard's train of thoughts.

"Consider it done, Marc." Richard gathered the photographs and placed them in the files. "You should read this, it's Blaine's history since he started working for _Ericksen: Art et Divertissement_."

"Thank you, Richard."

Both men stood up and Marc walked his friend back to the front door.

Once Richard had left, Marc took the file to his office and read attentively every detail that it contained about Anderson. A smiled tugged up at his lips as he reached a summary of Blaine's interview to get the job at their company. There were indeed some very interesting pieces of information in there.

With a satisfied sigh, Marc put everything back in the folder and took it to his office. He asked his maid to make sure that no one would disturb him for the remaining of the morning.

To be continued...

* * *

**Author's notes:**

There is no French in this chapter so no translations needed :)

On the other hand, there is a piece of information that might be a little usueful to understand Richard's motives.  
The backstory is briefly explained in the chapter but here have a little more about it:

_Reasons why Richards hates Kurt._  
_Richard, Kurt and Marc were part of the same class for a whole year. Richard and Marc are childhood friends and Richard has had feelings for Marc since he knew he was gay. But Marc never returned these feelings. At first, Richard thought that Marc was straight because for a few years, he only went out with girls but then Marc had confided Richard that he only did it for his grandfather. Marc's parent had advised him to act as if he were straight until his grandfather died, that way he would inherit the company. All had gone to plan, Marc was only 20 when his grandfather died. It was a few months later that he started going out with Kurt to Richard's utter misery. Richard never told Marc how he felt and contended himself of being the best friend then best man at Marc's wedding with Kurt. At first, Richard only disliked Kurt because he had the man he loved but he tolerated him and even got on well with him during the first years. In time, he grew to accept it because it meant that Marc was happy. Of course, then Kurt cheated on Marc and Richard witnessed how hurt his best friend was because of Kurt's betrayal. Marc forgave Kurt but his feelings remained. Richard never forgave Kurt and grew to hate the man but he never showed it in font of Marc._


	13. Chapter Twelve

**_Hello readers,_**

**_I have not much to say about this new chapter apart that I had lots of fun writing it and I hoped that you will enjoy it as much as I do._**

**_I've already started to write chapter 13 but things in life are a bit busy for me at the moment and I have no idea when I'll be able to complete it._**

**_As usual, I'm thankful to my wonderful beta who even when life gets crazy remains there for all the proof reading. I think she deserves some applause, guys ;)_**

**_Enjoy :)_**

**_Cynthia x_**

* * *

It was nearly ten in the morning when Kurt's phone went off signaling a new incoming text.

Kurt fumbled to reach his phone because Sammy was in his arms, still asleep from the drive to Carole's place. Fortunately, his stepmother saw him struggling and took the little boy from him. He thanked her with a soft smile and took his phone out. His smile grew wider when he read the text from Blaine.

**From Blaine – 9h54**

**You can definitely stop worrying now. Tina said everything was fine :)**

The musician had come by earlier to get his mother's car and Kurt had made him promise to see Tina about his lump which had turned yellowish overnight.

"Someone special?" Carole asked him, as she tried not so subtly to read over his shoulder. Her tone was a little teasing but her eyes grew wide when Kurt blushed and remain silent. "It _is_ someone special." She tried not to talk too loud because Sammy was still fast asleep, his face now buried in the soft skin of her neck.

Kurt took Simon and Sammy's backpacks and pretended to be very interested by their contents.

Carole sighed, but knew not to push or she wouldn't get anything out of Kurt about the sender of the text.

When Kurt followed his stepmother up the stairs to her house, Noah walked out to greet his best friend with a hug. Kurt melted in the embrace; surprised and pleased that Puck was here. The other man had not told him he would stop by Carole's this morning.

"It's good to see you, Buddy," Noah said, as they stepped back from each other. Kurt smiled and nodded in answer.

Clara arrived right behind them and asked them to move out from the path so that she and Simon could get inside. Noah and Kurt followed the two of them and headed to the kitchen where Sammy and Carole were. Kurt noticed that his younger son was awake now. He blamed the heavenly scent of Carole's famous pancakes.

Kurt brought all the bags in the living room as Clara and Simon joined their brother in their famous "pancake battle." He could faintly hear Carole trying to tell them that there was enough for all three of them and that there was no need to fight each other with plastic forks.

Kurt laughed to himself at his children's antics. As he turned to join them, he noticed that Noah had followed him and closed the door behind them.

"You seem happy," his best friend said gently.

"I think I am," Kurt answered sincerely.

"Oh?" Puck raised an eyebrow in question. "I suppose that whatever happened kept you distracted enough you forgot to text me you weren't coming Saturday night." He didn't sound hurt, just a little curious.

"I'm sorry about that." Kurt had totally forgotten.

"Don't worry about it," Puck said with a smile. "Now, start spilling about what you were doing that kept you too occupied to even think about your dear old friend." Puck walked over to Kurt and they both sat on the couch facing each other.

Kurt was playing nervously with his fingers.

"I…" he started hesitantly then raised his head and met Puck's intense gaze, "I ran into Blaine while getting groceries yesterday afternoon. Well, technically, it was _Paolo_ who did – and then the sneaky bastard left me with Blaine in the shop."

"I would go and beat up Paolo for this if it weren't for the smile you've been wearing since you arrived this morning."

Kurt laughed and his eyes went a little out of focus as he thought back to that previous day.

Puck cleared his throat and made a gesture with his hands indicating to Kurt to go on with his story.

"Well, basically, Blaine agreed to give me a lift after Paolo abandoned me with all the groceries and no car. Then there was a little accident involving Blaine and the bathroom sink and so Blaine stayed until he felt better." Puck was about to interrupt but Kurt just gave him a look and his friend kept his mouth shut. "I invited Blaine to stay for dinner and he was a bit reluctant at first but he accepted." Kurt paused and his smile grew even wider than before. "He got along with Clara and Simon. Sammy was still reticent but it did not scare Blaine away. After dinner, we talked… well, we kissed and then we talked." A light blush spread on Kurt's cheeks as he remembered the kiss, Blaine's warm breath ghosting over his lips, the soft skin underneath his shirt…

"Kurt, I'm still here." Puck tried not to laugh at how red his friend's face had gotten.

Kurt shook his head to try to clear his thoughts a little.

"So, what you're saying is that Blaine is now willing to try being with you?" Noah asked, clasping Kurt's hand in his own.

"He said that he could not promise me anything and that he needed time," Kurt said, avoiding his best friend's gaze. He already knew what the other would say because Kurt had been thinking it, too.

"As much as I hope that this guy has wised up and is willing to give it a try, you still have to be careful, Kurt." Puck rubbed his fingers gently on the back of Kurt's hands. "I can already see how far you've let him in and you know how dangerous that can be."

"I know," Kurt simply said, not wanting to argue with Noah, because his friend was right. "But is it so wrong to hope that things could turn for the best?" He met the other man's gaze expectantly.

"Of course not, Bud, and I _do want_ you to pursue this. I just want to remind you that this same man hurt you not two days ago. So please, promise me you'll be careful."

"I will, I promise." Kurt allowed himself to be drawn into the warmth of Puck's arms for a minute.

The moment was broken when Kurt's phone started to ring. When he saw Blaine's name on the tiny screen, he couldn't help the light flutter in his chest.

"I'm wounded Kurt, I thought you were worried and here I am texting you everything's fine and you don't even reply," Blaine pretended to sound hurt but his playful tone and the little laughter that burst out at the end of his sentence betrayed him.

Noah watched his best friend trying to contain a giggle as the person on the other end of the line talked to Kurt. Usually, only Puck's jokes got that reaction from his friend.

"I'm sorry, I only arrived at Carole's a few minutes ago and I didn't have time to reply," Kurt said once he managed to reign in his laughter. "I'm glad that you're okay because that lump did not look pretty this morning."

"It didn't prevent you from wanting to kiss me, though," Blaine teased.

Puck saw his friend blush and he regretted that the conversation was not on speaker. He was about to ask Kurt to do just that when his friend made a shooing motion with his arms. The message was clear and Puck reluctantly left the living room. He hoped that the children had at least left him some pancakes.

* * *

Kurt closed the door behind Noah and sat back down on the couch.

"So, was there a particular reason you called or did you just want to chastise me for not texting you back?" Kurt asked.

"Well, now that you mention it, there is this thing that I do every month and usually I go with Tina, Mike, Sebastian, Nick and Jeff…" Blaine trailed off.

"Okay," Kurt said, just waiting to see where this was going.

"Sebastian wants to work more on the show so he's not coming; neither are Nick and Jeff because Jeff has something at work the whole day and he will be exhausted tonight. And I'm telling you all this because we have already booked for the group and since we're just four going, I was wondering if maybe you would like to join us. For bowling." Blaine waited for a reaction and when none came he continued, "I know this is a bit last minute and that you may already have plans for the evening but if you don't then just know that the invitation extends to you, Clara, Simon and Sammy. Although I'm not sure Sammy will be allowed to play, but my mom may join us there and she can look after him."

"Erm…" Kurt was smiling and wanted to say yes but he had to mentally check his schedule for tonight. On Sundays, he sometimes had galas or showings to attend to. But if his memory did not fail him, tonight was completely free. He should make sure with Brittany but calling her place on a Sunday morning was not a good idea: either she would still be asleep or Santana would be there and the latter hated being disturbed for work related matters on Sundays.

"Kurt?" Blaine did not know what to say in response to Kurt's silence. He thought it would please Kurt that Blaine had thought of doing something with the children. He tried not to feel hurt at the thought of Kurt saying no. After all, the other man could already have plans and it did not mean that he would not want to go bowling.

"I would love that," Kurt finally said, softly. "And I think that the children will really enjoy it too."

"Great!" Blaine's smile could be heard through his tone. "I'll pick you up at six, is that alright with you?"

"Yes, it should be fine; I'll call you if there's any problem with the time."

"Okay."

"Yeah." Kurt felt they were like two teenagers at the beginning of their first relationship, both not wanting to hang up first. Kurt hated those scenes in teen movies but now he could almost feel sympathy for the characters of such movies.

"Look," Blaine broke Kurt's train of thought, "I would love to talk more but I actually have a piece to work on for the show and I really want to have it improved before tonight. I'll see you then, okay?"

"Sure. And thank you, for the invitation. Good luck with the music."

"Thanks! I'll let you listen to it if you want some time."

"I'd love that." Kurt understood that music was a big part of who Blaine was and the thought of the musician wanting to share that with him made him feel really special.

"Bye Kurt, see you tonight."

"Bye." Kurt waited a few seconds before hanging up.

He leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes for a minute, his smile remaining on his lips. A little knocking sound on the glass of the door to the living room startled him. He opened his eyes and was met with Puck grinning widely behind the glass. Kurt could not help the giggle that escaped him.

Puck opened the door and walked straight to the couch.

"So, I take it that this was the _good kind_ of call, right?" He bumped Kurt's shoulder teasingly.

"Blaine's invited us to go bowling with his friends," Kurt simply replied, still smiling.

"Oh, I thought he asked you on a date," Puck said, a little confused, "I mean with the huge smile on your face and the butterflies that I can almost see flying in your stomach, I thought it would _definitely_ be a date." Puck laughed at the look on his friend's face then thought back to what Kurt had said. "Wait, you said us? Who else did he invite?"

"It's not a date," Kurt said, but secretly hoped that they could have some moments alone, "he invited the children to join as well." Kurt knew that Puck understood why this made Kurt happy. Especially after how Blaine had first reacted to Kurt having children.

"The dude's getting higher in my approval if he's not avoiding the kids anymore. Maybe, he's not a complete idiot."

Kurt just smiled, allowing himself to let hope grow in his heart.

"This does not mean that I trust this guy yet, Buddy," Puck said after a few seconds of silence. "If he hurts you, I'll beat him to a pulp."

"Noah…"

"But, I'm willing to give him a chance," Puck added, raising his hand in a mocking gesture of surrender, "for now. He did this after all." Puck gestured to Kurt's face, pointing to Kurt's smile. "I hadn't seen you smile like this in a long time, Kurt," he added softly.

Kurt laughed lightly.

"And you say I'm the sappy one!"

Puck's only response to that was to tackle Kurt and start tickling him until he admitted that Kurt was the worst sap out of the two of them.

* * *

Tina waited for Blaine to hang up the phone before squealing in delight. Then she came to him and hugged him tightly.

"This is going to be so great!" Tina said as she let go of him. "I'm really proud of you, Blaine." And she meant it because this was a huge thing for her friend.

Blaine sat at the table and put the phone near him. He was waiting for doubts to creep into his mind but there were none. He felt genuinely happy that Kurt had said yes. Blaine was even excited at the thought of going bowling with Kurt's children. There was no fear; he may be a little nervous, but nothing alarming. He looked across the table where Tina sat.

"I can do this." He surprised himself, saying that to her, but what was even more astonishing was he truly believed what he said.

After his talk with Nick the previous night, Blaine had thought a lot about Kurt and if he was worth Blaine's efforts. The answer was yes. And Blaine was now willing to give it a try.

He was also grateful that he would not be alone with Kurt and the children. He was not sure if he was quite ready for that yet but he hoped that he would be soon.

"I can't wait to meet him," Tina said, breaking him out of his train of thoughts. "I'm really looking forward to tonight."

"So am I," Blaine said with a grin. And he really was.

"And you know, Tina and me can look after the children if ever you and Kurt want some time alone." Mike teased Blaine as he entered the kitchen.

"Shut up, Mike." Blaine glared at his friend who was making a suggestive gesture with his hands.

Tina laughed at the both of them.

"I have to go." Blaine got up from his chair and put his light jacket on. "If I don't work on the music, Sebastian will be really pissed and I want to avoid another argument with him."

Blaine had called his best friend after he brought back his mother's car. He had explained to Sebastian that he had gotten sidetracked on Saturday and had not had the time to improve his piece. Of course, Sebastian knew that Blaine had stayed at Kurt's. It was clear that his best friend did not approve of Blaine's relationship with Kurt. _"I thought you ended it!"_ he'd said and Blaine had hung up because he was not really happy with Sebastian at the moment either. He could understand that his friend was stressed because of all the pressure for their show but that was no excuse for yelling at Blaine. The musician hoped that Sebastian's opinion on Kurt would change because Blaine wanted to try a real relationship with the other man.

* * *

It took some convincing for Clara to agree to go bowling. Paolo was on a late night shoot so she could not stay with him and Kurt would have felt bad leaving her alone at the apartment while the rest of them were having fun. Kurt was thankful both Finn and Puck told her that they sucked at bowling so she couldn't be worse than them. Her reluctance had come from a fear of making a fool of herself. She was not a very self-confident teenager; her family situation had not helped either, but since she started living with Kurt, she had managed to get rid of the worst of her insecurities.

"Blaine also told me he is not very good so you shouldn't worry, Clara. And don't forget that we're going for fun, it's not a competition, okay?"

"Fine, I'll go," she sighed in defeat but was smiling. Puck had told her a story of himself as a kid, throwing the ball and falling along with it. Finn had then explained to Clara how he had once managed to bowl the ball in the wrong direction resulting in the fall of a poor unsuspecting waitress.

Clara still felt a little nervous but she also realized that Blaine inviting them all seemed to mean a lot to Kurt and she didn't want to spoil that for him.

Simon was more than excited to go. He aced at bowling in the Wii game. Kurt had tried to tell him that this would be a little different but the young boy was convinced that he was a bowling champion in the making.

Sammy did not know what bowling was but he seemed excited all the same. Kurt knew that it was mostly because of Simon's enthusiasm though. It was _very_ contagious.

After lunch, Finn, Puck and Simon went to play soccer in the garden behind Carole's house. Kurt put Sammy to bed for a nap and then returned to help Carole and Clara with the dishes. When his stepmother started to ask questions about Blaine, Clara pretended that she had something to check on the computer and left Kurt with Carole. _The traitor,_ Kurt thought as he watched his daughter leave the kitchen.

"So, are you going to tell me more about who Blaine is?" She walked to the door and positioned herself before it; effectively blocking any way out for Kurt.

The young man tried to ignore her at first, focusing on a plate that he had been drying for the past couple of minutes.

"Kurt?" Carole came closer and took the plate from his hands. "We both know that you can't resist my grilling methods so better avoid all the trouble, don't you think?" Her tone was playful and Kurt could not help the little smile that tugged at his lips.

"Fine. What do you want to know then?" he sighed in defeat.

"Everything," Carole said eagerly as she gestured for Kurt to sit at the table. She then prepared some tea for the both of them and joined her stepson, waiting for him to start spilling the goods.

Kurt told her about how he met Blaine and their first night together. He did not mention anything about the sex, it would be awkward to talk about it with her, but he knew that she was not fooled. He was grateful that she chose not to comment on it though. Then he told her about the date and Blaine's fear of children. At that, Carole had wanted to say something but refrained. Kurt glossed over Blaine leaving and then meeting him again while doing the groceries. His stepmother winced in sympathy when Kurt described to her how Blaine had hit his head on the sink. She then made a cooing sound at the thought of Kurt nursing Blaine.

"I wouldn't call it 'nursing,'" Kurt protested with a slight blush to his cheeks. He concluded his account with what Blaine had told him the previous night.

Carole seemed happy for him and told Kurt that if things grew serious between him and Blaine, then she expected to meet the young man. Kurt promised her that she would if things with Blaine went well. She then hugged him tight and whispered in his ear.

"I think your father would have loved seeing this smile on your face again."

In response, he had clung to her a bit tighter, allowing himself to shed a tear.

* * *

The afternoon went by fast. Kurt met Claire, Finn's new girlfriend, and her young Labrador, Tara. The children immediately fell for the adorable puppy and even Kurt had to admit that he had fallen under her charm as well. When it was time to leave, Sammy, who had grown very attached to Tara, had thrown a tantrum and cried until they reached the city center.

Kurt had calmed him, promising they would be able to see Tara again some other time. He silently prayed that Finn would not screw things up with the young woman or Kurt might have to buy a puppy for his son. He truly hoped that it would not come to this.

* * *

Blaine felt really satisfied about his work on the piece of music. He had finally found the little detail that had been bothering him the other day. He suspected that having started to work things out with Kurt might have helped. Now the music had a real flow. He felt proud of it and could not wait to have someone listen to it. He knew that Sebastian would want to be the first to do so but Blaine hoped that he could play it for Kurt first.

The musician could not shake the feeling that most of the piece had been inspired by the other man. Blaine truly loved music and needed it in his life. But he had rarely felt such a powerful tug to it. He believed that the piece held the feelings he could not express. The ones he was not yet aware of and the ones he was afraid to share with Kurt. Maybe, by playing the piece to Kurt, he could truly show him everything.

Blaine couldn't go any further in his thoughts because his phone started to ring. He walked to the table where he left it earlier.

He took a bit too long to get there, though, and the call went to voicemail. He looked at caller ID and saw that it was his mother. An incoming text informed him a minute later that he had new message.

"Blaine, sweety, it's mom. I just wanted to confirm that I'm coming tonight. Tina told me that you were bringing your friend Kurt. She's also mentioned that you were considering starting a serious relationship with this man. So, can I call him your boyfriend already? Anyway, I'm not missing out on this so you can count me in. See you later!"

Blaine groaned. He was going to kill Tina.

* * *

**Author's note:**

No translation for this chapter.

Just a little detail that will have its importance in the next chapter; I have not mentioned that yet but maybe you've noticed that Kurt tends to use the taxi a lot. It's because he doesn't own a car. He borrowed Paolo's to drive to Carole's place. That's also why Blaine tells Kurt he'll pick him up and the children to go to bowling.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**_Hi,_**

**_I'm sorry it took this long to update with a new chapter, personal life has been getting in the way lately and I don't know when I'll be able to post chapter 14._**

**_I hope you will enjoy this one, I had much fun writing some of the scenes and we all need fluff and happiness while the "Storm clouds" are still raging (yep, I may have had CWM a lot on repeat the past week…)_**

**_Enjoy :)_**

* * *

Blaine was pacing in his room trying to find a way to get out of this. But the more he dwelled on it, the less he believed there was any other solution. He glared at his phone as if the device was responsible for what was troubling him.

Kurt did not own a car. It should have been obvious to Blaine when the other man had come pick him up for their date in a taxi. Blaine was an idiot. It was his fault after all; he had been the one to say to Kurt that he would pick him up. He had been so happy that Kurt had said yes that Blaine had completely forgotten about a very important detail; his car only had two seats. How the hell was he supposed to drive Kurt and his children to the bowling alley? He could use a taxi but it was too expensive and he would feel bad asking Kurt to pay for it.

Blaine had called Tina to ask for advice and her only solution was the last one that Blaine had considered.

_"You should ask you mother if you can borrow her car. It's big enough for five people," she had said, entirely ignoring Blaine's protests on the other end of the line._

So here he was, pacing and cursing his friend for her crap piece of advice.

After a few more minutes of this, he finally took his phone and dialed his mother's number.

"Hi Blaine, did you get my message?" Charlotte asked as soon as she picked up.

"Hi Mom, yes, I got it and no, you can't call Kurt my boyfriend yet," Blaine said hurriedly. He tried not to linger on the thought of wanting to call Kurt _his_ soon.

"Yet!" Charlotte teased. "I really can't wait to meet him. Although, I already have but the circumstances were much different," she added with a laugh.

Blaine tried not to groan. He had to steel himself for what he was about to ask her.

"I need your car." There, he said it. He was barely aware that he had interrupted his mother's babbling with his request.

"You need my car?" she sounded confused, "You have your own car Blaine, or well, that poor vehicle that you call a car."

"Please, Mom, don't ask questions, I just need to borrow it for tonight." Blaine knew as soon as the words left his mouth that he was doomed. There was no way his mother would not pry. _Good one, Anderson_, he thought to himself.

"Why do you need it? And don't try to lie, young man!" she warned him.

Blaine breathed deeply.

"I need the car because mine is too small." He did not let her speak because he knew his resolve would fade if he did not say it all at once. "I'm picking up Kurt and his three children and you know that my car has no backseat." Blaine closed his eyes and waited with apprehension for his mother's reaction.

For the second time that day, he heard a woman squeal in delight. He had to remove the phone from his ear for a few seconds. _Tina was a really bad influence on his mother_, he thought.

"Oh my god! Kurt has children? How old are they? What are their names?" Charlotte started firing questions at him excitedly.

"Please, Mama, you'll meet them tonight so you can ask them then. Just let me borrow the car and stop killing my ears with your shrill voice." His tone was pleading and he hoped that she would let it go for now.

"Blaine Charlie Anderson, I am so proud of you right now!" Charlotte exclaimed.

_Oh man_, Blaine thought, _she's using my full name. This is bad_.

"Yes, you can have the car, Sweetheart; you can have it anytime you need. I'll even buy you a new one, the family friendly kind," his mother said enthusiastically.

"Okay, whatever you want." Blaine knew that there was no stopping her right now. "I'll come in roughly ten minutes to get the car, okay?"

"Sure, Sweetheart, I'll see you then," she answered, her tone still filled with excitement.

Blaine waited to hear if she would say something else but she seemed to have understood that their conversation had come to an end. He hung up and threw himself face first onto the bed.

_Tonight is going to be interesting_, he thought to himself. He could only be grateful that Cooper would not arrive until next week so he wouldn't join them tonight. Now that was something that Blaine did not want to think about…

It was ten past six when Kurt opened the door to let Blaine in.

"I'm sorry for being a little late," the musician started to apologize, "I had to get my mother's car. She's coming too. Mike and Tina picked her up since it's on their way there."

Kurt smiled softly at Blaine's nervous babbling.

"We could have taken a taxi, you know." Kurt sounded amused. But he also felt something tug at his heart that Blaine was being thoughtful of Kurt and his children.

"I know," Blaine lowered his head to hide a smile, "I just… I invited you and I thought I'd just…"

Kurt's response was to tug Blaine inside by his hands and kiss him softly. The musician exhaled against Kurt's warm lips and opened his mouth to allow their tongues to tangle as the kiss deepened. Kurt's fingers were caressing the faint stubble along Blaine's jaw. Want rising between them, both men became so lost in each other that they didn't notice Clara arriving behind them. By then, Kurt was pinned against the wall near the door and Blaine's hands had found their way to the other man's hips.

A slight coughing sound startled them just in time, as things were getting far too heated for the circumstances.

"Hello, Blaine!" Clara said in a far too cheerful tone.

"Clara! Hi!" Blaine tried to smooth down his shirt and tuck it back in his pants. _Wow, things had escalated quite fast_, he turned to look at Kurt, how red and swollen his lips were and _oh God, was that a hickey forming under Kurt's left ear?_

Fortunately for them, Clara acted normally, as if she had not walked in on them making out furiously moments before. Blaine wondered if she was used to see Kurt in such positions. He could not think any further down this path because Simon and Sammy arrived running towards them.

"Funny Man! You're back!" Simon all but shouted as he launched himself towards Blaine who was not used to getting hugs from little boys. He tried not to show it and did his best to hug Simon back. When he let go, Kurt was looking down at him and giving him the most amazing smile Blaine had ever seen.

Sammy was holding on Kurt's right leg, looking warily at Blaine. The musician crouched to his level and gave him a tentative smile. He then reached out and gently ruffled Sammy's locks. The little boy's glare softened a little but Blaine knew that things were not okay between them yet. Blaine sighed; he was willing to at least try.

"We should be going," Kurt said and Simon, Clara and Blaine went outside to the car. Blaine carried the baby seat for Sammy and Clara got the bags. Kurt followed them with Sammy in his arms.

Once everyone was seated properly in the car, Blaine started the engine and drove off down the street.

"I have to warn you that my mom is really excited to meet you and the kids," Blaine said when they stopped at a red light.

"I'm really looking forward to it, too," Kurt answered, laying a hand on Blaine's knee.

Clara, who was sitting in the middle seat, observed their interaction with a smile.

"Strike!" Simon shouted as all the pins fell with a crashing sound. The little boy jumped and turned to do a victory dance.

Tina, Kurt and Blaine laughed at Mike's groan. The young man was used to being the bowling champion at these outings of theirs, and he was not amused to be losing to Simon. Trying not to let it show, Mike grabbed his ball and concentrated on his next throw.

The first round had gone to Blaine, Simon and Clara, who had teamed up against Kurt, Mike and Tina. They were now in the middle of the second round and Mike was starting to regret his suggestion of letting both Kurt and Blaine be their team captains. _Who could have predicted that Blaine would not pick him for his team?_

"Kurt, it's your turn," Tina said, as Mike managed a spare.

"We'll get our revenge this time," Mike said to Simon with a mock glare. "Kurt, you better get us another strike," he warned.

Blaine watched as Kurt positioned himself. Truthfully, his gaze was more directed on the other man's ass than the way Kurt was throwing his ball. _Damn, those jeans were nearly panted on his skin._

The loud banging sound broke him out his impure thoughts and he could swear that Kurt was smirking in his direction as Mike gave him a high-five.

"Good job, Kurt!" Tina whooped behind them and Charlotte was laughing. Blaine had the suspicion that he was missing some sort of joke at his expense.

Kurt walked to him and whispered in his ear, "It's your turn, Blaine."

Kurt's hot breath made him shiver. Their faces were so close and for a second Blaine thought Kurt would kiss him but just as he started to lean in, the other man looked him in the eyes and smiled. The next second, he was gone and Blaine felt confused, frustrated and a little turned on. He looked back at Kurt but the other man was already talking with Charlotte.

"Funny Man!" Simon called beside him, reminding Blaine that he had yet to play his turn. He grabbed the ball and tried to focus back on the game.

His first throw went right into the gutter. _Just like my mind_, thought Blaine.

Behind him, he heard Tina, Mike and Kurt laugh and whoop.

Blaine tried not to let them distract him as he bowled his second ball. This time he managed to make five pins fall.

Simon cheered him on and they exchanged a high-five.

Behind them, Kurt and Mike were speaking with hushed tones and Tina was chuckling next to them. Blaine did not notice them, though, because Clara came to him to ask for tips on the way to aim better on her next throw.

Tina, Mike and Simon followed and then it was Kurt's turn again. The young man bent over to reach for a ball. Blaine's eyes were glued to his ass as Kurt took longer than necessary to grab the ball. Kurt took a few steps backwards to take a run up before throwing. Only two pins fell and Kurt turned with a pout in Blaine's direction.

Blaine responded with a sympathetic smile and a look that said, "You'll do better on your second throw".

Kurt nodded and grabbed a second ball, the fabric stretching across his pert bottom as Blaine kept staring.

Across from the musician, Mike and Tina were looking at Blaine trying not to laugh at how wide his eyes were. It reminded them of those cartoons in which the eyes of the characters bugged out of their sockets when there was a pretty woman near them.

"We're _so_ winning this round." Mike rubbed his hands together in delight thinking of their future victory.

Tina looked fondly at her husband thinking he took these bowling games a little too seriously. But she was enjoying seeing her friend so flustered by a man. She could not remember the last time it had happened. And guys from one-night stands did not count in her books.

After Kurt's turn, he waited for Blaine to come get his ball.

"You should give me tips," he said softly, taking Blaine's hand in his and stepping into his personal space. "Clara has improved since you helped her."

"I only helped her because she's on my team." Blaine tried to not let Kurt notice how breathy his voice had gotten.

"Oh, come on." Kurt was so close that there was barely any space left between them. Blaine's semi hard-on rubbed lightly on Kurt's clothed thigh. The musician bit his lip at the slight friction. "If you help me, I promise you won't regret it." Kurt punctuated his last words by sliding his left hand in the back of Blaine's pocket and discreetly squeezed Blaine's cheek.

"Kurt!" Blaine gasped, his hips coming closer to Kurt's, seeking more friction.

A slight coughing sound from the left reminded Blaine that they were not alone and that he should probably move away from Kurt before things got even more inappropriate.

Kurt seemed to have reached the same train of thought as he took a few steps backwards and slapped Blaine's ass before returning to the others.

The game kept going and the next time Kurt went to distract him right before his turn, Blaine clearly understood that the other team had been scheming against him and that Kurt was their ultimate weapon. When Kurt's team won, Simon looked at Blaine like he had been the only cause for their loss. The boy was not entirely wrong, Blaine supposed. Clara was more understanding and said to him that they could still get revenge later.

As they all went to get drinks, Blaine sat next to Kurt and placed his hand on his thigh. No one at the table paid attention to them; Simon was still teasing Mike about getting more strikes than him and Tina, Charlotte and Clara were talking together. Blaine inched his hand a little higher, tracing the inseam of Kurt's tight jeans with his fingers.

"What are you doing?" Kurt hissed in his ear.

"I can play this game too, you know," Blaine whispers back and starts stroking, his fingers coming closer to Kurt's crotch.

"I really don't know what you're talking about," Kurt breathed out, shifting a little in his chair.

"Oh really?" Blaine pretended to sound surprised but the smirk on his face betrayed what he was really thinking. Kurt bit his lower lip as Blaine's hand brushed lightly over his growing erection. "Your team only won because of your little _distractions_." Blaine punctuated this last word by adding pressure as he rubbed his hand on Kurt's hardening cock.

Fortunately for Kurt, this was the moment Sammy chose to start whining in Charlotte's arms and asking for his dad. Blaine tried to cover his laugh as Kurt had to stand and get his son. But Blaine immediately schooled his face when Charlotte sent him a knowing look. His smug smile fell and he blushed to the tip of his ears.

After their break, Mike asked for a change of teams and together with Simon, they decided to play against Kurt and Blaine. Clara and Tina had decided to sit out this round.

When it was Kurt's turn to play, his phone went off in his pocket. He apologized to Blaine, Mike and Simon and walked away to take the call.

"Kurt, where the hell are you?" Kurt looked around him slightly confused, "You were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago! I've tried to call at least four times!" Kurt detached his phone from his ear to look at the screen and he had indeed four missed calls from Marc.

"Marc?" Kurt had no idea why his ex was calling him.

"Yes, who else did you think it was?" Marc sounded angry now, "I'm not even supposed to be here but they called me when you did not show up on time. It's _your _stupid gala after all!" Kurt's stomach dropped. He knew that he should have checked with Brittany for his schedule, he cursed under his breath and told Marc that he'd be there as soon as possible.

"You better be." Marc's tone was final and then he hung up on Kurt.

Blaine, who had tried not to eavesdrop on the conversation, walked to Kurt and asked what was wrong.

"I have to go," Kurt blurted out, his eyes a little panicked.

"Why?" Blaine tried not to sound hurt but the way Kurt avoided his gaze, he knew that he had failed.

"I have this gala to promote a young artist and I had totally forgotten that it was tonight. I should have called my assistant to ask her but I was just so excited to go out with you and the children that I didn't." Kurt was talking fast and walking towards the entrance to get his jacket and scarf. Blaine trailed after him and tried to keep up with Kurt.

"Shit!" Kurt stopped abruptly and Blaine nearly stumbled against him. "Marie left for Marseille this morning and I don't know any other baby sitter that I could call on such short notice."

"Isn't Paolo home?" Blaine asked a frantic Kurt.

"No, he's got a late night shooting and he won't be back until after 1 a.m." Kurt waited as the young lady went to get his things.

"Maybe…" Blaine hesitated to finish his sentence.

"What?" Kurt turned to him expectantly.

"Maybe, I could look after them." Blaine smiled, hoping that Kurt could not detect the trembling in his voice.

Kurt's eyes widened and he stared at Blaine for a full minute. It was only when the young lady at the counter cleared her throat behind them that he turned to get his jacket, his pair of shoes and his scarf back. Once he had put both items on, he turned back to Blaine with the same expression as before.

"Are you sure?" he asked the musician who just nodded. "Blaine, I really appreciate you offering but you need to be _really _sure."

"I am," Blaine simply answered. "Am I a bit terrified right now? Yes, I can't lie about that. But I truly believe I can do this and if I ever get a little overwhelmed then Clara will be there too. I think that the two of us should be able to manage for the rest of the evening."

"Okay." Kurt was still a little stunned that Blaine was doing this. It was as if this man in front of him was a completely different man than the one who had confessed to him how he disliked children a few days before. "Please call if there's any problem, alright?"

"I will, don't worry." Blaine smiled reassuringly at him. "You should go now," he added gesturing towards the exit.

Kurt then took Blaine's face in his hands and brought their lips together in a fiery kiss. Blaine's hands immediately went to Kurt's waist and his little gasp of surprise allowed Kurt to deepen the kiss. Kurt's fingers stroked Blaine's jaw and he tilted his head a little more, sucking slightly on Blaine's lower lip.

As Blaine started to moan in the back of his throat, Kurt reluctantly broke the kiss, knowing that he could not stay longer.

"I really have to go now," Kurt said with regret in his tone. "I can't thank you enough." He pecked Blaine on the lips once more and then turned and walked to the exit.

Blaine watched him go, still feeling dazed from their kiss.

After a few minutes, he slowly made his way back to the others. He explained that Kurt had to leave early and after dinner, he would take Clara, Simon and Sammy home and stay with them until Kurt returned from his gala.

Sammy was not really pleased with this change of events and made it clear by whining and calling for his dad. Charlotte and Clara both managed to calm him down for the time being.

Simon and Mike declared themselves winners of this round and decreed that it was time to eat some pizza.

During the meal, Charlotte kept looking at her son with a huge smile on her face. There was something in Blaine's hazel eyes, although less pronounced than at the beginning of their evening. Her thoughts were only confirmed when Blaine received a text from Kurt and his smile grew wider.

Throughout the rest of the evening, Blaine's head was filled with many thoughts; Kurt's eyes, so beautiful and sparkling, the way he had kissed him just before leaving… But among all of these thoughts, one prevailed all the others.

_I'm in love with Kurt. _

* * *

**Little reminder about who Marie is, she's the baby sitter who was in chapter 6.**

**No French to translate this chapter (there may be some in the next chapter though)**

**Little teaser about what's coming next:**

- **Blaine will get some time with the children **

- **Two characters will get a bit closer (no, it's not Kurt and Blaine)**

- **Something unexpected at an inappropriate time**


End file.
